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Accelerated diagnosis: a crosslinking catalytic hairpin assembly system for rapid and sensitive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the urgent need for rapid and reliable strategies for early detection of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we propose a DNA nanosphere-based crosslinking catalytic hairpin assembly (CCHA) system for the rapid and sensitive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. The CCHA system employs two DNA nanospheres functionalized with catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) hairpins. The presence of target SARS-CoV-2 RNA initiated the crosslinking of DNA nanospheres via CHA process, leading to the amplification of fluorescence signals. As a result, the speed of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was enhanced by significantly increasing the local concentration of the reagents in a crosslinked DNA product, leading to a detection limit of 363 fM within 5 min. The robustness of this system has been validated in complex environments, such as fetal bovine serum and saliva. Hence, the proposed CCHA system offers an efficient and simple approach for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, holding substantial promise for enhancing COVID-19 diagnosis.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21877048, 22077048, and 22277014), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 2022GXNSFBA035533, AD21220061, 2021GXNSFDA075003, and 2022GXNSFBA035482), and the startup fund of Guangxi University (A3040051003 and A3040051011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Optical Materials and Chemical Biology, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530004, People’s Republic of China

    Liuting Mo, Rongzheng Yuan, Yan Hong, Chan Yang & Weiying Lin

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  1. Liuting Mo
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  2. Rongzheng Yuan
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  3. Yan Hong
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  4. Chan Yang
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Correspondence to Weiying Lin.

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All experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and guidelines of Guangxi University, and the experiments have been approved.

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Mo, L., Yuan, R., Hong, Y. et al. Accelerated diagnosis: a crosslinking catalytic hairpin assembly system for rapid and sensitive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. Microchim Acta 191, 333 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-024-06396-z

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