title: RNA-regulated molecular tweezers for sensitive fluorescent detection of microRNA from cancer cells.
abstract: We describe here the construction of the DNA self-assembled molecular tweezers and the application of the tweezers for the monitoring of microRNA (miR-141) from human prostate cancer cells. The self-assembly formation of the DNA tweezers and the regulation of the tweezers upon alternative addition of the fuel miR-141 and the anti-fuel strands are characterized by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The addition of miR-141 to the DNA tweezers turns "off" the tweezers, while subsequent introduction of the anti-fuel strands switches the tweezers back to the "on" state, which verifies the regulatory ability of the tweezers. The miR-141-regulated DNA tweezers are concentration dependent and can be employed for sensitive detection of miR-141 down to 0.6 pM. The DNA tweezers also show high selectivity toward the fuel strand and can be used to monitor miR-141 expression in cancer cells, which provides new opportunities for the application of the dynamic DNA devices in clinical diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Daxiu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Yaqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China. Electronic address: yunatswu@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Ruo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C533895:MIRN141 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D004247:DNA
keywords: Cell; DNA tweezer; Fluorescence; Human prostate cancer; MicroRNA-141