Harnessing thiophilic cadmium to enhance 8–17 DNAzyme activity in cascade oligo biosensors

Date

2025

Authors

Sadraeian, M.
Maleki, R.
Fu, L.
Lin, G.
Zhou, J.
Jin, D.
Reimers, J.R.

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Journal article

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Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2025; 288:117816-1-117816-12

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Mohammad Sadraeian, Reza Maleki, Libing Fu, Gungun Lin, Jiajia Zhou, Dayong Jin, Jeffrey R. Reimers

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Abstract

DNAzymes are metal-dependent catalysts with vast potential for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Herein, optimization of the performance of a commercial laboratory fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor, that is currently used to detect, with 1 fM sensitivity, the ompA gene of Chlamydia trachomatis, is considered through the addition of 20–40 μM of Cd²⁺ to model biosensors. Up to 10-fold signal enhancement is observed in pertinent solution-based sensing formats based on 8–17 DNAzyme, the mechanism of which is determined using molecular-mechanics simulations of the operation of its catalytic site. In contrast, only minor improvements are predicted and observed using 10–23 DNAzyme as the catalyst. These results are then translated to yield a three-fold increase in sensitivity for a close-model two-chamber biosensor that involves bead-bound DNAzymes. Thiolated linkages are used to bind the DNAZymes to the beads, with thiophilic Cd²⁺ shown to restrain 75 % of possibly detached oligos, with no unwanted background signal detected that could be attributed to detached oligos during biosensor operation.

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© 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

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