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. 2025 Feb 12;192(3):153.
doi: 10.1007/s00604-025-07018-y.

Fluorescence-based detection of Let-7a miRNA through HCR-based approach upon the in situ interaction of AuNPs@CdS QDs and FRET mechanism

Farid Hosseini  1 , Mehdi Dadmehr  2 , Morteza Hosseini  3
Affiliations

Fluorescence-based detection of Let-7a miRNA through HCR-based approach upon the in situ interaction of AuNPs@CdS QDs and FRET mechanism

Farid Hosseini et al. Mikrochim Acta. .

Abstract

A novel strategy is presented based on integration of nanostructures and molecular amplification was developed for detection of Let-7a miRNA as the carcinogenic cancer marker. Hybridization chain reaction (HCR) was triggered through the presence of Let-7a as the initiator target. This reaction resulted to the formation of AuNPs@CdS QDs assembly due to thiol bonding and following FRET occurred between free AuNPs and CdS QDs. Characterization and morphology of AuNPs@CdS QDs showed in situ accumulation of CdS QDs and afterward optical changes in fluorescence emission. The quenching of fluorescence emission was observed which corresponded to Let-7a concentration in the linear range 10-45 pM with LOD of 2 pM. The sensitivity and selectivity of the performed study confirmed the efficiency of the proposed strategy. Additionally, it demonstrated a high level of specificity and detection performance in real-sample analysis.

Keywords: AuNPs; Biosensor; CdS QDs; FRET; HCR; Let-7a.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: This study does not require any ethical approval. Consent for publication: All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

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