Dual-microRNA-Controlled Electrochemiluminescence Biosensor for Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Supplemental Identification of Breast Cancer Metastasis

Breast cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed cancer globally, and the metastasis of this malignancy is the primary cause of mortality in breast cancer patients. Hence, prompt diagnosis and timely detection of metastatic breast cancer are critical for effective therapeutic intervention. Both progression and metastasis of this malignancy are closely associated with aberrant expression of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) and enzymes. To facilitate breast cancer diagnosis and concomitant identification of metastatic breast cancer, we have engineered an innovative electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based sensing platform integrated with enzyme-free DNA amplification circuits for dual functionality. Specifically, microRNA-21 (miR-21) is employed as a biomarker for breast cancer, and miR-21 induces the quenching of the ECL signal from luminophores via a strategically designed catalytic three-hairpin assembly (CTHA) circuit. Subsequently, miR-105 levels are measured via toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions (TSDR). Here, miR-105 restores the initially quenched ECL signal, enabling the assessment of the metastatic propensity. Our experimental data demonstrate that the devised ECL biosensor offers broad linear detection ranges and low detection limits for both miR-21 and miR-105. Importantly, our novel platform was also successfully validated by using cellular and serum samples. This biosensor not only discriminates breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 from nonbreast cancer cells like HepG2, TPC-1, and HeLa, but it also distinguishes between malignant MCF-7 and metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells. Consequently, our novel approach holds significant promise for clinical applications and precise cancer screening.