title: Nucleic acid tool enzymes-aided signal amplification strategy for biochemical analysis: status and challenges.
abstract: Owing to their highly efficient catalytic effects and substrate specificity, the nucleic acid tool enzymes are applied as 'nano-tools' for manipulating different nucleic acid substrates both in the test-tube and in living organisms. In addition to the function as molecular scissors and molecular glue in genetic engineering, the application of nucleic acid tool enzymes in biochemical analysis has also been extensively developed in the past few decades. Used as amplifying labels for biorecognition events, the nucleic acid tool enzymes are mainly applied in nucleic acids amplification sensing, as well as the amplification sensing of biorelated variations of nucleic acids. With the introduction of aptamers, which can bind different target molecules, the nucleic acid tool enzymes-aided signal amplification strategies can also be used to sense non-nucleic targets (e.g., ions, small molecules, proteins, and cells). This review describes and discusses the amplification strategies of nucleic acid tool enzymes-aided biosensors for biochemical analysis applications. Various analytes, including nucleic acids, ions, small molecules, proteins, and cells, are reviewed briefly. This work also addresses the future trends and outlooks for signal amplification in nucleic acid tool enzymes-aided biosensors.
authors.affiliation: College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Taiping
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qing
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Bio-Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Dinggeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China. xiaoxiaohe@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China. kmwang@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Kemin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Fengzhou
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Jingfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shangguan
authors.affiliation: College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Zhengui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lei
mesh_terms: D003124:Colorimetry; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D011506:Proteins
keywords: Aptamer; Nucleic acid; Nucleic acid tool enzymes; Sensing; Signal amplification