DNA origami structure for detecting specific protein

The molecules—known as biomarkers—are currently collected in their billions—if not trillions—in order to create a detectable signal of a disease.

The new system, which has already been used to detect a protein linked to cystic fibrosis, can compile a detectable signal from just a few biomarkers, and can be done in just a few minutes.

The new method involves using DNA origami—a nanoscale technique that involves folding DNA into specific shapes.

The DNA shapes are then used to capture biomarkers, which are indicators of particular diseases.

"The captured biomarkers are then read with nanopores and we can do this one molecule at a time.

"By coupling DNA origami and nanopores we are able to quantitatively detect disease biomarkers with single molecule sensitivity."

from paper

we report a biosensor platform using DNA origami featuring a central cavity with a target-specific DNA aptamer coupled with a nanopore read-out to enable individual biomarker detection. We show that the modulation of the ion current through the nanopore upon the DNA origami translocation strongly depends on the presence of the biomarker in the cavity

 

reference

Mukhil Raveendran et al, Rational design of DNA nanostructures for single molecule biosensing, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18132-1