Intracellular activated logic nanomachines based on framework nucleic acids for low background detection of microRNAs in living cells.

DNA molecular machines based on DNA logic circuits show unparalleled potential in precision medicine. However, delivering DNA nanomachines into real biological systems and ensuring that they perform functions specifically, quickly and logically remain a challenge. Here, we developed an efficient DNA molecular machine integrating transfer-sensor-computation-output functions to achieve high fidelity detection of intracellular biomolecules.

A reversible plasmonic nanoprobe for dynamic imaging of intracellular pH during endocytosis.

Understanding the pH evolution during endocytosis is essential for our comprehension of the fundamental processes of biology as well as effective nanotherapeutic design. Herein, we constructed a plasmonic Au@PANI core-shell nanoprobe, which possessed significantly different scattering properties under acidic and basic conditions. Encouragingly, the scattering signal of Au@PANI nanoprobes displayed a positive linear correlation with the pH value not only in PBS but also in nigericin-treated cells.

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence detection of single entities.

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence, also known as electrochemiluminescence (ECL), is an electrochemically induced production of light by excited luminophores generated during redox reactions. It can be used to sense the charge transfer and related processes at electrodes a simple visual readout; hence, ECL is an outstanding tool in analytical sensing. The traditional ECL approach measures averaged electrochemical quantities of a large ensemble of individual entities, including molecules, microstructures and ions.