Annealed ZnO/Al2O3 Core-Shell Nanowire as a Platform to Capture RNA in Blood Plasma.

Hiromi Takahashi,Tuksadon Wuthikhun,Annop Klamchuen,Yotaro Kitano,Takao Yasui,Keiko Shinjo,Yoshinobu Baba,Piyawan Paisrisarn,Kosuke Aoki,Sakon Rahong,Atsushi Natsume,Narathon Khemasiri

doi:10.3390/nano11071768

Abstract

RNA analytical platforms gained extensive attention recently for RNA-based molecular analysis. However, the major challenge for analyzing RNAs is their low concentration in blood plasma samples, hindering the use of RNAs for diagnostics. Platforms that can enrich RNAs are essential to enhance molecular detection. Here, we developed the annealed ZnO/Al2O3 core-shell nanowire device as a platform to capture RNAs. We showed that the annealed ZnO/Al2O3 core-shell nanowire could capture RNAs with high efficiency compared to that of other circulating nucleic acids, including genomic DNA (gDNA) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Moreover, the nanowire was considered to be biocompatible with blood plasma samples due to the crystalline structure of the Al2O3 shell which serves as a protective layer to prevent nanowire degradation. Our developed device has the potential to be a platform for RNA-based extraction and detection.

Highlights

RNAs, including messenger RNAs and microRNAs, have remarkable roles in numerous biological processes that promoted their service as biomarkers for clinical applications [1,2,3]
ZnO/Al2 O3 core-shell nanowire from which we identified the chemical composition of the annealed ZnO/Al2 O3 core-shell nanowire
To further demonstrate the capability of the nanowire to capture other types of miRNAs, we supplied three different types of miRNAs (-21, -155, -124), and our developed nanowire devices could capture all these types of miRNAs with high efficiency. These results suggested that the annealed ZnO/Al2 O3 core-shell nanowire could serve as a platform to capture RNAs, facilitating the development of RNA-based on-chip analysis

Summary

Introduction

RNAs, including messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), have remarkable roles in numerous biological processes that promoted their service as biomarkers for clinical applications [1,2,3]. Recent technological advancements led to the development of RNA detection technologies for the early detection of cancer [4,5] and of viral infection [6,7]. There are two types of RNA detection technologies: direct detection [8,9] and nucleic acid amplification-based detection [10,11]. The commonly used methods are northern blotting [12] and fluorescence in situ hybridization [13]; these methods have several drawbacks: they are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and poor in sensitivity. Nucleic acid amplification-based detection is based on reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and other isothermal amplification methods, including loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) [14] and rolling circle extension-actuated LAMP [15].

Methods

Results

Conclusion