Transcription-Based Amplified Colorimetric Thrombin Sensor Using Non-Crosslinking Aggregation of DNA-Modified Gold Nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been employed as colorimetric biosensors due to the color difference between their dispersed (red) and aggregated (blue) states. Although signal amplification reactions triggered by structural changes of the ligands on AuNPs have been widely used to improve measurement sensitivity, the use of ligands is limited. In this study, we designed a AuNP-based signal-amplifying sandwich biosensor, which does not require a conformational change in the ligands. Thrombin was used as a model target, which is recognized by two different probes. In the presence of the target, an extension reaction occurs as a result of hybridization of the two probes. Then RNA synthesis is started by RNA polymerase activation due to RNA promoter duplex formation. The amplified RNA drives aggregation or dispersion of the AuNPs, and a difference of the color if the AuNP solution is observed. As this detection system does not require a conformational change in the ligand, it can be generically applied to a wide range ligands.