The compact integration of a cascaded HCR circuit for highly reliable cancer cell discrimination

The accurate identification of multiple biomarkers involved in disease plays a vital role in effectively distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells, facilitating reliable cancer diagnosis. Motivated by this knowledge, we have engineered a compact and clamped cascaded DNA circuit for specifically discriminating cancer cells from normal cells via the amplified multi-microRNA imaging strategy. The proposed DNA circuit combines the traditional cascaded DNA circuit with multiply localized responsive character through the elaboration of two super-hairpin reactants, thus concurrently streamlining the circuit components and realizing localization-intensified cascaded signal amplification. In parallel, the multiple microRNA-stimulated sequential activations of the compact circuit, combined with a handy logic operation, significantly elevated the cell-discriminating reliability. Applications of the present DNA circuit in vitro and in cellular imaging experiments were executed with expected results, therefore illustrating that our DNA circuit is useful for precise cell discrimination and further clinical diagnosis.

Automated summary

The accurate identification of multiple biomarkers involved in disease is crucial for distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells and facilitating reliable cancer diagnosis. In this study, a compact and clamped cascaded DNA circuit was engineered to specifically discriminate cancer cells from normal cells using the amplified multi-microRNA imaging strategy. The proposed DNA circuit combined the traditional cascaded DNA circuit with multiply localized responsive character, streamlining the circuit components and realizing localization-intensified cascaded signal amplification. The sequential activations of the compact circuit by multiple microRNAs, combined with a handy logic operation, significantly improved the cell-discriminating reliability.