Lateral flow biosensor for universal detection of various targets based on hybridization chain reaction amplification strategy with pregnancy test strip

Abstract

Abstract Pregnancy test strip is currently one of the most mature and widely used biomedical test products. In this study, based on its simplicity and rapidity, the detecting target-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is coupled with different hybridization probes, while the aptamer is linked with the initiator used for hybridization chain reaction (HCR), which can construct a signal amplification platform based on HCR. The method converts the detection of other biochemical molecules into the detection of hCG signal, and combines the magnetic separation technology to realize the detection of various targets with pregnancy test strip. The rapid quantitative detection can be achieved with smartphone App and portable detection device. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the method can realize rapid and sensitive detection of adenosine triphosphate, thrombin, carcinoembryonic antigen and DNA fragment in human serum, and the visual detection limits can reach 100 pM, 0.2 pM, 5 ng/mL and 5 pM, respectively. The design has low cost, simple operation, and good sensitivity and selectivity for target detection. Based on this design, the detection of multiple analytes can be implemented with different aptamer sequences, thereby broadening the application of commercial pregnancy test strip in the biomedical testing field.