Label- and enzyme-free plasmon-enhanced single molecule fluorescence detection of HIV DNA fragments based on a catalytic hairpin assembly†

We developed a label- and enzyme-free single molecule fluorescence counting strategy for HIV DNA fragments detection. The nucleic acid biosensor consists of a 5′ terminal connected with a triangular gold nanoplate, 3′ terminal rich in guanine hairpin probe (HP1) and a hairpin probe HP2 complementary to the partial sequence of HP1. Without the existence of the target DNA, the DNA fragment rich in the guanine region is locked in a hairpin structure and cannot form a G-quadruplex, hence NMM exhibits a low fluorescence signal. When the target DNA exists, the hairpin assembly will trigger a strand displacement amplification reaction that produces a great number of G-quadruplexes, and the fluorescence brightness of NMM will be enhanced. The plasmon resonance effect of the triangular gold nanoplates will further amplify the fluorescence signal. This method can analyze the target DNA with high sensitivity and selectivity, and the detection limit is 0.83 fM. The analysis of the HIV DNA fragments in diluted human serum samples was successfully achieved, and the recovery rate was 92%–104%. Because of its easy operation and low cost, it has broad development potential in biochemical analysis and clinical applications.