An electrochemical determination strategy for miRNA based on bimetallic nanozyme and toehold-mediated DNA replacement procedure

An electrochemical strategy based on bimetallic nanozyme in collaboration with toehold-mediated DNA replacement effect is proposed for the sensitive determination of miRNA-21. The AuPt nanoparticles (AuPt NPs) are prepared as a catalytic beacon; it shows favorable peroxidase properties with a Michaelis contant ( K m ) of 0.072 mM for H 2 O 2 , which is capable of catalyzing H 2 O 2 to induce an intense redox reaction, and causing a measurable electrochemical signal. To further enhance the strength of the signal response, a novel toehold-mediated DNA replacement strategy is employed. DNA strands with specific sequences are modified on electrodes and AuPt NPs, respectively. In the presence of miRNA-21, a cyclic substitution effect is subsequently activated via a specific toehold sequence and leads to a large accumulation of AuPt NPs on the electrodes. Subsequently, a strong signal depending on the amount of miRNA-21 is obtained after adding a small amount of H 2 O 2 . The analytical range of this determination method is from 0.1 pM to 1.0 nM, and the LOD is 84.1 fM. The spike recoveries for serum samples are 95.0 to 102.4% and the RSD values are 3.7 to 5.8%. The results suggests a promising application of the established method in clinical testing and disease diagnosis. Graphical Abstract