A de novo self-assembling peptide hydrogel biosensor with covalently immobilised DNA-recognising motifs.

Patrick J S King,Aline F Miller,Elena V Bichenkova,Alberto Saiani

doi:10.1039/c6cc01433j

Abstract

We report here the first experimental evidence of a self-assembling three-dimensional (3D) peptide hydrogel, with recognition motifs immobilized on the surface of fibres capable of sequence-specific oligonucleotide detection. These systems have the potential to be further developed into diagnostic and prognostic tools in human pathophysiology.

Highlights

We report here the first experimental evidence of a self-assembling three-dimensional (3D) peptide hydrogel, with recognition motifs immobilized on the surface of fibres capable of sequence-specific oligonucleotide detection
The proof-of-principle level was achieved by using a simple molecular bio-recognition system which co-assembles with an octapeptide to form hydrogel-based biosensors capable of selectively hybridizing DNA and generating a fluorescence output (Fig. 1)
The stem region can be displaced by hybridization between the remaining single-stranded residues of the molecular beacon (MB) and the recognition motif, due to the formation of a more stable duplex comprising 12 Watson–Crick complementary base pairs

Summary

Introduction

We report here the first experimental evidence of a self-assembling three-dimensional (3D) peptide hydrogel, with recognition motifs immobilized on the surface of fibres capable of sequence-specific oligonucleotide detection. Through the use of positivelycharged hydrogels (+2 charge per peptide at pH 7, Fig. S1, see the ESI†), we aim to improve the biosensor sensitivity through an increase in the local concentration of negatively-charged target DNA around the sensing elements.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion