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Hairpin-locker mediated CRISPR/Cas tandem system for ultrasensitive detection of DNA without pre-amplification

Hairpin-locker mediated CRISPR/Cas tandem system for ultrasensitive detection of DNA without pre-amplification
Hairpin-locker mediated CRISPR/Cas tandem system for ultrasensitive detection of DNA without pre-amplification

Achieving ultra-sensitive detection of DNA is of paramount importance in the field of molecular analytics. Conventional amplification technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) currently play a leading role in ultrasensitive DNA detection. However, amplicon contamination common in these techniques may lead to false positives. To date, CRISPR-associated nucleases (type V & VI) with their programmable cleavage have been utilised for sensitive detection of unamplified nucleic acids in complex real samples. Nevertheless, without additional amplification strategies, the pM range sensitivity of such CRISPR/Cas sensors is not sufficient for clinical applications. Here, we established a hairpin-locker (H-locker) mediated Cas12-Cas13 tandem biosensing system (Cas12-13 tandem-sensor) for ultrasensitive detection of DNA targets. Without the need for any additional amplification reaction or device, this system is capable of detecting DNA at a notable 1 aM level (<1 copy/μL) sensitivity. In addition, the system was able to distinguish cancer mutations in colorectal cancer (CRC) mice. This is a significant advance for CRISPR/Cas biosensing technology offering simple, highly sensitive, and user-friendly diagnostics for next-generation nucleic acid detection.

Amplification free, CRISPR/Cas tandem system, DNA detection, Hairpin-locker
0026-265X
Deng, Fei
426fa10e-62cf-4593-b476-160aa39a8ece
Sang, Rui
4b366b45-b328-4e55-9cf8-aba35bd58f73
Li, Yi
2ba70794-b4aa-46d1-b7d0-c21a8fc68bdb
Yang, Biyao
79ae08e1-5fc7-4aa3-a606-0ea3e6cf4744
Zhai, Xiwen
4c36794d-d4b7-41ac-b0d1-310c911e6bb7
Xue, Ruier
da150847-d5f9-46fe-9ddb-428c7d9a4b94
Zhang, Chengchen
abc47c06-4b99-4aed-be72-463f211e9dfa
Deng, Wei
74ccf497-3eb2-4b97-97bd-eba5fac73849
Goldys, Ewa M.
9f624161-efbc-4549-970c-ba5d9e3ba0e9
Deng, Fei
426fa10e-62cf-4593-b476-160aa39a8ece
Sang, Rui
4b366b45-b328-4e55-9cf8-aba35bd58f73
Li, Yi
2ba70794-b4aa-46d1-b7d0-c21a8fc68bdb
Yang, Biyao
79ae08e1-5fc7-4aa3-a606-0ea3e6cf4744
Zhai, Xiwen
4c36794d-d4b7-41ac-b0d1-310c911e6bb7
Xue, Ruier
da150847-d5f9-46fe-9ddb-428c7d9a4b94
Zhang, Chengchen
abc47c06-4b99-4aed-be72-463f211e9dfa
Deng, Wei
74ccf497-3eb2-4b97-97bd-eba5fac73849
Goldys, Ewa M.
9f624161-efbc-4549-970c-ba5d9e3ba0e9

Deng, Fei, Sang, Rui, Li, Yi, Yang, Biyao, Zhai, Xiwen, Xue, Ruier, Zhang, Chengchen, Deng, Wei and Goldys, Ewa M. (2025) Hairpin-locker mediated CRISPR/Cas tandem system for ultrasensitive detection of DNA without pre-amplification. Microchemical Journal, 210, [113025]. (doi:10.1016/j.microc.2025.113025).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Achieving ultra-sensitive detection of DNA is of paramount importance in the field of molecular analytics. Conventional amplification technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) currently play a leading role in ultrasensitive DNA detection. However, amplicon contamination common in these techniques may lead to false positives. To date, CRISPR-associated nucleases (type V & VI) with their programmable cleavage have been utilised for sensitive detection of unamplified nucleic acids in complex real samples. Nevertheless, without additional amplification strategies, the pM range sensitivity of such CRISPR/Cas sensors is not sufficient for clinical applications. Here, we established a hairpin-locker (H-locker) mediated Cas12-Cas13 tandem biosensing system (Cas12-13 tandem-sensor) for ultrasensitive detection of DNA targets. Without the need for any additional amplification reaction or device, this system is capable of detecting DNA at a notable 1 aM level (<1 copy/μL) sensitivity. In addition, the system was able to distinguish cancer mutations in colorectal cancer (CRC) mice. This is a significant advance for CRISPR/Cas biosensing technology offering simple, highly sensitive, and user-friendly diagnostics for next-generation nucleic acid detection.

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Accepted/In Press date: 10 February 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 February 2025
Published date: 18 February 2025
Keywords: Amplification free, CRISPR/Cas tandem system, DNA detection, Hairpin-locker

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 503178
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503178
ISSN: 0026-265X
PURE UUID: 5c8a2122-a471-4461-a983-08023908fcb3
ORCID for Chengchen Zhang: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8802-539X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 23 Jul 2025 16:38
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:41

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Contributors

Author: Fei Deng
Author: Rui Sang
Author: Yi Li
Author: Biyao Yang
Author: Xiwen Zhai
Author: Ruier Xue
Author: Chengchen Zhang ORCID iD
Author: Wei Deng
Author: Ewa M. Goldys

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