DNA nanotechnology-enabled bioanalysis of extracellular vesicles

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as valuable sources for liquid biopsy in disease diagnostics, given their protein and nucleic acid cargoes (e.g., miRNA, mRNA, glycoRNA) can serve as critical biomarkers. DNA nanotechnology, leveraging its inherent programmability, high specificity, and powerful signal amplification capability, offers a transformative approach for the bioanalysis of EVs. This review summarizes recent advances in DNA nanotechnology-based analytical methodologies for detecting EV-associated proteins and nucleic acids. We detail the underlying principles, applications, and performance of key strategies, including aptamer-based recognition, enzyme-free catalytic amplification circuits (e.g., HCR, CHA), enzyme catalytic amplification techniques (e.g., RCA, CRISPR-Cas systems), and DNA nanostructures-assisted amplification. The integration of these DNA tools into multiplexed detection platforms is also discussed. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives concerning clinical translation of EV detection are presented.