A magnetically separated-type ultrasensitive fluorescent DNA biosensor based on a hydrogen peroxide triggered chemically driven redox-cycling system

Abstract

In order to meet the demand of analyzing low concentrations of DNA with high sensitivity, herein, a magnetically separated-type fluorescent biosensor has been constructed for ultrasensitive DNA detection based on a chemically driven redox-cycling system. In this study, the substrate o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD) is oxidized to produce 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) with strong fluorescence emission at 555 nm. In the chemically driven redox-cycling system, Cu2+ oxidized OPD to yield DAP and Cu+/Cu0. On the one hand, the produced Cu0 could further oxidize OPD to form DAP, while on the other hand, the generated Cu+ could react with newly imported H2O2 to undergo a Fenton-like reaction to form hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) and a Cu2+ ion. The reproduced Cu2+ ion and generated ˙OH could in turn oxidize OPD to form more DAP, touching off a chemically driven chemical redox-cycling amplification reaction. By leveraging the magnetic separation mode, the chemically driven redox-cycling strategy allowed quantitative detection of H1N1, exhibiting a linear range of 1 pM to 1 nM with a low limit of detection of 300 fM. The magnetic separation mode could effectively minimize the background signal to obtain greatly improved sensitivity. It is promising that the chemically driven redox-cycling strategy could provide a novel approach in the fields of biosensing and biological sample assay.

Graphical abstract: A magnetically separated-type ultrasensitive fluorescent DNA biosensor based on a hydrogen peroxide triggered chemically driven redox-cycling system

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jun 2025
Accepted
10 Aug 2025
First published
11 Aug 2025

New J. Chem., 2025, Advance Article

A magnetically separated-type ultrasensitive fluorescent DNA biosensor based on a hydrogen peroxide triggered chemically driven redox-cycling system

L. Sun, Q. Xu and H. Wang, New J. Chem., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5NJ02324F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements