Target-induced reconfiguration of DNA probes for recycling amplification and signal-on electrochemical detection of hereditary tyrosinemia type I gene.

By coupling target DNA-induced reconfiguration of the dsDNA probes with enzyme-assisted target recycling amplification, we describe the development of a signal-on electrochemical sensing approach for sensitive detection of hereditary tyrosinemia type I gene. The dsDNA probes are self-assembled on the sensing electrode, and the addition of the target DNA reconfigures and switches the dsDNA probes into active substrates for exonuclease III, which catalytically digests the probes and leads to cyclic reuse of the target DNA. The target DNA recycling and the removal of one of the ssDNA from the dsDNA probes by exonuclease III result in the formation of many hairpin structures on the sensor surface, which brings the electroactive methylene blue labels into proximity with the electrode and produces a significantly amplified current response for sensitive detection of the target gene down to 0.24 pM. This method is also selective to discriminate single-base mismatch and can be employed to detect the target gene in human serum samples. With the demonstration for the detection of the target gene, we expect the developed method to be a universal sensitive sensing platform for the detection of different nucleic acid sequences.