Boronic Acid Functionalized Au Nanoparticles for Selective MicroRNA Signal Amplification in Fiber-Optic Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing System

ACS Sens. 2018 May 25;3(5):929-935. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.7b00871. Epub 2018 May 15.

Abstract

MicroRNA (miRNA) regulates gene expression and plays a fundamental role in multiple biological processes. However, if both single-stranded RNA and DNA can bind with capture DNA on the sensing surface, selectively amplifying the complementary RNA signal is still challenging for researchers. Fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors are small, accurate, and convenient tools for monitoring biological interaction. In this paper, we present a high sensitivity microRNA detection technique using phenylboronic acid functionalized Au nanoparticles (PBA-AuNPs) in fiber-optic SPR sensing systems. Due to the inherent difficulty directly detecting the hybridized RNA on the sensing surface, the PBA-AuNPs were used to selectively amplify the signal of target miRNA. The result shows that the method has high selectivity and sensitivity for miRNA, with a detection limit at 2.7 × 10-13 M (0.27 pM). This PBA-AuNPs amplification strategy is universally applicable for RNA detection with various sensing technologies, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and electrochemistry, among others.

Keywords: boronic acid; fiber-optic SPR sensors; gold nanoparticles; microRNA detection; surface plasmon resonance (SPR).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Boronic Acids / chemistry*
  • Fiber Optic Technology*
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • MicroRNAs / analysis*
  • Nucleic Acid Hybridization
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*

Substances

  • Boronic Acids
  • MicroRNAs
  • Gold