Sensitive detection of microRNA with isothermal amplification and a single-quantum-dot-based nanosensor.

<!-- START_ABSTRACT --> <p> MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in a wide range of biological processes, and their aberrant expressions are associated with various diseases. Here we develop a rapid, highly sensitive, and specific miRNA assay based on the two-stage exponential amplification reaction (EXPAR) and a single-quantum-dot (QD)-based nanosensor. The two-stage EXPAR involves two templates and two-stage amplification reactions under isothermal conditions. The first template enables the amplification of miRNA, and the second template enables the conversion of miRNA to the reporter oligonucleotide. Importantly, different miRNAs can be converted to the same reporter oligonucleotides, which can hybridize with the same set of capture and reporter probes to form sandwich hybrids. These sandwich hybrids can be assembled on the surface of 605 nm emission QDs (605QDs) to form the 605QD/reporter oligonucleotide/Cy5 complexes, where the 605QD functions as both a fluorescence resonance energy transfer donor and a target concentrator. ... </p> <!-- END_ABSTRACT --> <!-- START_TEMPLATE --> <ul> <li> Source: </li> <li> Tags: </li> </ul> <!-- END_TEMPLATE -->