Catalytic hairpin self-assembly and hybrid chain reaction-based chemiluminescence sensor array for simultaneously measuring multiple cancer-associated miRNAs

Herein, a novel visualized chemiluminescence (CL) sensor array was developed by combining the cascade amplification of both the catalytic hairpin self-assembly (CHA) and hybrid chain reaction (HCR) with the excellent catalytic activity of the G-quadruplex DNAzyme for the simultaneous detection of four cancer-associated miRNAs. The CL sensor array having four different sensing units was developed by modifying four different DNA hairpins on the detection wells. When the target miRNA is present, the CHA-HCR reaction occurs and the G-quadruplex DNAzyme is formed, which is responsible for luminol producing the luminescence signal. The luminescence intensity can be recorded using mobile phones or imagers for simultaneous visualization detection. Under optimized conditions, many cancer-related miRNAs have been successfully determined in the buffer solution or a complex biosample such as the cell lysate. This proposed CL sensor array has an important role for simultaneously detectiing miRNA and cancer screening owing to its excellent detection performance for complex components, multiple detection capabilities, and simple and readable characteristics.