Rapid detection of acute myocardial infarction-related miRNA based on a Capture-interCalation-electroCatalysis (3C) strategy.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the most urgent and serious diseases that may cause cardiac death in a few hours. Rapid diagnosis of AMI is the pre-requisite for timely interventions. Recently, several specific circulating miRNAs have been proven to have high correlation with AMI. To adopt miRNA as a biomarker may improve the diagnostic accuracy. However, it is a pity that the current available methods for the detection of miRNA usually require a few hours, which is too long for the diagnosis of AMI. In this paper, by adopting a capture DNA, an electrochemical active intercalator and an unimmobilized enzyme, we develop a Capture-interCalation-electroCatalysis (3C) strategy for the rapid detection of AMI-related miRNA. The whole detection process can be completed in 35 min, which is much shorter than most current methods and is acceptable for the diagnosis of AMI. This strategy also shows favorable sensitivity and selectivity, thus provides an alternative for the detection of miRNA. Most importantly, this effort may promote miRNA to work as an effective biomarker in the diagnosis of AMI.