Assistant deoxyribonucleic acid recycling with Zn(2+) and molecular beacon for electrochemical detection of deoxyribonucleic acid via target-triggered assembly of mutated DNAzyme.

A novel enzyme-free amplification strategy was designed for sensitive electrochemical detection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) based on Zn(2+) assistant DNA recycling via target-triggered assembly of mutated DNAzyme. A gold electrode was used to immobilize molecular beacon (MB) as the recognition probe and perform the amplification procedure. In the presence of target DNA, the hairpin probe 1 was opened, and the DNAzyme was liberated from the caged structure. The activated DNAzyme first hybridized and then cleaved the MB in the presence of cofactor Zn(2+). After cleavage, the MB was cleaved into two pieces and the ferrocene (Fc) labeled piece dissociated from the gold electrode, thus obviously decreasing the Fc signal and forming a free DNAzyme strand. Finally, each target-induced activated DNAzyme underwent many cycles to trigger the cleavage of many MB substrates. Therefore, the peak current of Fc dramatically decreased to approximately zero. The strategy showed a detection limit at 35 fM levels, which was about 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of the conventional hybridization without Zn(2+)-based amplification. The Zn(2+) assistant DNA recycling offers a versatile platform for DNA detection in a cost-effective manner, and has a promising application in clinical diagnosis.