Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Biomaterials Research Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Construction and Detection in Tissue Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
Talanta. 2021 May 1;226:122146. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122146. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
Nucleic acid detection is of great importance in a variety of areas, from life science and clinical diagnosis to environmental monitoring and food safety. Unfortunately, nucleic acid targets are always found in trace amounts and their response signals are difficult to be detected. Amplification mechanisms are then practically needed to either duplicate nucleic acid targets or enhance the detection signals. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the most popular and powerful techniques for nucleic acid analysis. But the requirement of costly devices for precise thermo-cycling procedures in PCR has severely hampered the wide applications of PCR. Fortunately, isothermal molecular reactions have emerged as promising alternatives. The past decade has witnessed significant progress in the research of isothermal molecular reactions utilizing hairpin DNA probes (HDPs). Based on the nucleic acid strand interaction mechanisms, the hairpin DNA-mediated isothermal amplification (HDMIA) techniques can be mainly divided into three categories: strand assembly reactions, strand decomposition reactions, and strand creation reactions. In this review, we introduce the basics of HDMIA methods, including the sensing principles, the basic and advanced designs, and their wide applications, especially those benefiting from the utilization of G-quadruplexes and nanomaterials during the past decade. We also discuss the current challenges encountered, highlight the potential solutions, and point out the possible future directions in this prosperous research area.
核酸检测在生命科学、临床诊断、环境监测、食品安全等诸多领域都具有重要意义。然而，核酸靶标通常存在于痕量水平，其响应信号难以检测。因此，需要扩增机制来复制核酸靶标或增强检测信号。聚合酶链反应（PCR）是核酸分析中最常用和最强大的技术之一。但 PCR 中精确热循环程序所需的昂贵设备严重阻碍了 PCR 的广泛应用。幸运的是，等温分子反应已成为有前途的替代方法。过去十年，利用发夹 DNA 探针（HDP）的等温分子反应研究取得了重大进展。基于核酸链相互作用机制，发夹 DNA 介导的等温扩增（HDMIA）技术主要可分为三类：链组装反应、链分解反应和链创建反应。在本综述中，我们介绍了 HDMIA 方法的基础知识，包括传感原理、基本和高级设计及其广泛的应用，特别是在过去十年中利用 G-四联体和纳米材料的应用。我们还讨论了当前遇到的挑战，强调了潜在的解决方案，并指出了这一繁荣研究领域的可能未来方向。
