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Electrochemiluminescence biosensor for microRNA determination based on AgNCs@MoS2 composite with (AuNPs-Semicarbazide)@Cu-MOF as coreaction accelerator

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Abstract

A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor was fabricated for miRNA-162a detection by using silver nanoclusters/molybdenum disulfide (AgNCs@MoS2) as an ECL material, peroxodisulfate (S2O82−) as a co-reactant, and semicarbazide (Sem) as a co-reaction accelerator. Firstly, hairpin probe Ha modified on AgNCs@MoS2/GCE was unfolded based on its hybridization with target microRNA. Then, the unfolded Ha can further be hybridized with another hairpin DNA of Hb on (AuNPs-semicarbazide)@Cu-MOF, resulting in the release of target microRNA, which further causes a cyclic hybridization. This creates more (AuNPs-semicarbazide)@Cu-MOF on the electrode surface, achieving cyclic hybridization signal amplification. Strikingly, due to the presence of Sem, accelerating the reduction of S2O82− and resulting in the generation of more oxidant intermediates of SO42−, the amount of excited states of Agincreases to further amplify the ECL signal. The biosensor exhibited high sensitivity with a low LOD of 1.067 fM, indicating that the introduction of co-reaction accelerators can provide an effective method for signal amplification. The applicability of this method was assessed by investigating the effect of Pb(II) ion on miRNA-162a expression level in maize seedling leaves.

Graphical abstract

A novel electrochemiluminescence biosensor was fabricated for miRNA-162a detection by using silver nanoclusters/molybdenum disulfide as an ECL material, peroxodisulfate as a co-reactant, and semicarbazide as a co-reaction accelerator.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (No. ZR2018MB028), Science and Technology Support Plan for Youth Innovation of Colleges and Universities of Shandong (2019KJC019), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21775090 and 41807484).

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  1. Fei Li and Minghui Wang contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Food Safety Analysis and Test Engineering Technology Research Center of Shandong Province, College of Chemistry and Material Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, 271018, People’s Republic of China

    Fei Li, Yunlei Zhou, Huanshun Yin & Shiyun Ai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, People’s Republic of China

    Minghui Wang

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  1. Fei Li
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Correspondence to Yunlei Zhou.

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Li, F., Wang, M., Zhou, Y. et al. Electrochemiluminescence biosensor for microRNA determination based on AgNCs@MoS2 composite with (AuNPs-Semicarbazide)@Cu-MOF as coreaction accelerator. Microchim Acta 188, 68 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04678-w

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