Molecular beacon-based enzyme-free strategy for amplified DNA detection.

We report an enzyme-free, sensitive strategy for DNA detections through fluorescence amplification. The sensing method employs molecular beacons (MBs) and two single-stranded helper DNA probes. In the presence of a DNA target, it binds and opens an MB. This triggers the hybridizations between the MB and helper probes, and consequently releases the DNA target, which becomes available to react with another MB and enhances the fluorescence emission of the MBs. The detection limit of the proposed strategy is 0.58 pM, which is about 3 orders of magnitude better than the conventional MB-based method. This method is also fast and exhibits good selectivity. It is superior to previous MB-based amplification approaches employing enzymes or nanomaterials.