Bivariate-gated DNA nanoreactors for high-fidelity amplified imaging of tumor cells

Abstract

Here, we report a bivariate-gated DNA nanoreactor enabling high-fidelity tumor cell imaging via amplified miRNA-21 detection. Endogenous apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) activates toehold unlocking to prevent leakage, while spatial confinement excludes pre-miRNA interference. This strategy distinguishes cancer cells from normal cells with minimal false positives, enabling reliable cancer diagnostics.