Issue 4, 2017

A smart ZnO@polydopamine-nucleic acid nanosystem for ultrasensitive live cell mRNA imaging by the target-triggered intracellular self-assembly of active DNAzyme nanostructures

Abstract

Efficient strategies for the ultrasensitive imaging of gene expression in living cells are essential in chemistry and cell biology. Here, we report a novel and efficient enzyme-free dual signal amplification strategy for live cell mRNA imaging by using a smart nucleic acid hairpin-based nanosystem. This nanosystem consists of a ZnO nanoparticle core, an interlayer of polydopamine and an outer layer of four hairpin DNA (hpDNA) probes. Such a core–shell nanosystem facilitates the cellular uptake of molecular hairpin payloads, protects them from nuclease digestion, and delivers them into the cytoplasm by the acid-triggered dissolution of the ZnO core. In the presence of target mRNA, the released hpDNA probes self-assemble via HCR into wire-shaped active DNAzymes that catalyze the generation of a fluorescence signal. The target-initiated HCR events and DNAzyme cascades offer efficient dual amplification and enable the ultrasensitive detection of mRNA with a femtomolar detection limit. Live cell assays show an intense fluorescence response from a tumor-related biomarker survivin mRNA only in tumor cells untreated with a survivin expression repressor YM155, but not in normal cells. The developed nanosystem provides a potential platform for the amplified imaging of low-abundance disease-related biomarkers in live cells.

Graphical abstract: A smart ZnO@polydopamine-nucleic acid nanosystem for ultrasensitive live cell mRNA imaging by the target-triggered intracellular self-assembly of active DNAzyme nanostructures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
17 okt 2016
Accepted
08 yan 2017
First published
19 yan 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 2832-2840

A smart ZnO@polydopamine-nucleic acid nanosystem for ultrasensitive live cell mRNA imaging by the target-triggered intracellular self-assembly of active DNAzyme nanostructures

D. He, X. He, X. Yang and H. Li, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 2832 DOI: 10.1039/C6SC04633A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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