Issue 3, 2016

Two-color imaging of microRNA with enzyme-free signal amplification via hybridization chain reactions in living cells

Abstract

In situ imaging of miRNA in living cells could facilitate the monitoring of the dynamic expression and distribution of miRNA and research on miRNA-related cellular processes and diseases. Given the low expression levels and even down-regulation of cellular miRNA that is associated with some diseases, amplification strategies are imperative for intracellular miRNA imaging. The present paper proposes a non-destructive amplification strategy for use in living cells. This amplification strategy utilizes the enzyme-free hybridization chain reaction (HCR) with graphene oxide (GO) as a carrier to image cellular miRNA. The resulting signal amplification provides excellent recognition and signal enhancement of specific miRNAs in living cells. As the fluorescence quencher and probe carrier, GO enables activation of the signal switch and effective intracellular delivery of amplification reagents. This new imaging method realizes simple, sensitive and non-destructive signal amplification of miRNA in living cells and has an ability to simultaneously image two types of miRNA in the same cell. This method supplies accurate information regarding cellular miRNA-related biological events and provides a new tool for highly sensitive and simultaneous imaging of multiple low-level biomarkers, thereby improving the accuracy of early disease diagnosis.

Graphical abstract: Two-color imaging of microRNA with enzyme-free signal amplification via hybridization chain reactions in living cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
15 Oct 2015
Accepted
04 Dec 2015
First published
07 Dec 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 1940-1945

Two-color imaging of microRNA with enzyme-free signal amplification via hybridization chain reactions in living cells

L. Li, J. Feng, H. Liu, Q. Li, L. Tong and B. Tang, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 1940 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03909F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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