Abundant cross reactivity in DNA circuits: An efficient and universal strategy to develop sensor arrays

Abstract

Artificial sensor arrays are useful in various applications of biomolecules recognition, but their abilities for pattern recognition are often limited by the insufficient cross reactivity in sensors elements. Herein, the abundant cross reactivity in DNA circuits has been successfully demonstrated and employed in sensor arrays to discriminate various biomolecules including DNA analogues, RNA analogues, gene expression profiles and SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) targets. In these DNA circuits, a hybridization chain reaction was employed for target recognition, while an entropy-driven amplification process acted as a universal fluorescence output. The fluorescence response patterns were further processed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA) or principal component analysis (PCA), and all the targets were discriminated from each other without any overlap (95% confidence). The sensor elements have been enriched by introduction of mismatches (Sensor Array 1), combination of sensor units (Sensor Array 2), application of orthogonal reactivity (Sensor Array 3) and addition of a new module (Sensor Array 4). Due to the great diversity and limitless opportunity, the powerful cross-reactive DNA circuits have a number of advantages over the classical approaches to construct sensor arrays for biomolecules pattern recognition.