Nucleic acid detection is becoming increasingly important in the diagnostics of genetic diseases for biological analysis. We herein propose gold nanoparticles as probe for colorimetric detection of nucleic acids with branched DNA nanostructures, which enables a novel and simple colorimetric biosensor. In our system, the target DNA specifically triggered two short-chain ssDNA probes to generate branched DNA nanostructures (Y-shape DNA), which prevent AuNPs from aggregation in aqueous NaCl solution. On the contrary, when the target DNA did not exist, gold nanoparticles were unstable and aggregated easily because there is no anti-aggregation function from Y-shape DNA. Sensor response was found to be proportional to the target DNA concentration from 5 to 100[Formula: see text]nM, with detection limits determined as 5[Formula: see text]nM. The developed platform is for colorimetric nucleic acid detection without enzymes, label and modification holds great promise for practical applications.
CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated gold nanoparticle aggregation for colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2