Nucleic Acid Amplification Strategy-Based Fluorescence Imaging

Nucleic acid amplification techniques can be grouped into two major categories, including isothermal amplification and thermocycling amplification. Isothermal amplification techniques include rolling-circle amplification (RCA), strand-displacement amplification (SDA), helicase-dependent amplification (HDA), and hybridization chain reaction (HCR). And polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase chain reaction (LCR) have been known as thermocycling amplification techniques. Now nucleic acid amplification techniques were widely applied in cellular imaging based on fluorescent techniques. In this section, we attempt to summarize recent development of nucleic acid amplification techniques for bio-analysis, including the detection of miRNA, mRNA, ATP, telomerase, pH, and metal ions in cells and biomolecules in cell surface. We also consider the current challenges and our perspectives of nucleic acid amplification techniques for bio-imaging.