Metal–DNA coordination based bioinspired hybrid nanospheres for in situ amplification and sensing of microRNA

Abstract

Sufficient delivery of biomolecules into cells with high loading efficiency and easy cleavability would be significant for the visualization of biomolecules in living cells. Herein, a facile approach based on nano-wire balls (NWs) for efficient loading, intracellular delivery of nucleic acids and in situ targeted miRNA bioimaging is proposed, by feeding of Zn ions for generating DNA–inorganic hybrid structures with large surface areas and good stability. Given that the versatile and robust hybridization chain reaction (HCR) amplification strategy combines DNA assembly with intracellular assay, the resulting NWs without any complicated modification are capable of enhanced signals for the targeted imaging of cancer cells. This method realized a linear detection range of 100 fM to 10 nM, with a low detection limit of 83.6 fM in vitro, and could be used to effectively differentiate the expression levels of miRNA-21 in living cells. Due to its high loading efficiency, excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity, this system can be used to construct a coordination-based delivery nanoplatform for in situ enzyme-free amplified imaging of miRNAs, expanding the application of DNA-based nanomaterials for cellular delivery and intracellular molecule analysis.