Single DNA hairpin nanowire based on self-hybridization chain reaction for sensitive ATP detection

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Hybridization chain reaction (HCR), which typically consists of two hairpins for signal amplification, has emerged as a versatile tool in bioanalytical applications. Here, a novel HCR nanowire based on a single DNA hairpin structure is reported. The hairpin stem is rationally engineered with a palindromic sequence, which enables a self-hybridization chain reaction (SHCR) upon the introduction of the initiator DNA strand. Compared to the conventional two hairpin-based HCR nanowire, the single DNA hairpin-based SHCR nanowire achieves nearly a two-fold improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio and exhibits better selectivity for single-base mismatch. By integrating the initiator DNA strand with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) aptamer, the single DNA hairpin-based nanowire has been applied for sensitive ATP detection, capable of monitoring ATP both in living cells and that released from dead cancer cells post-radiotherapy. The SHCR nanowire we proposed here has significantly simplified the sequence design of HCR and holds promise as a potential alternative to the conventional HCR nanowire.