Self-Assembly of Bidirectional-Signal Nanoclusters for Two miRNAs Simultaneously Monitoring in Single Cancer Cells

A novel finding is herein reported that the bidirectional-signal nanoclusters self-assemble simultaneously on the nanoflowers as a result of four-way folding (FWF) nanoprobes and DNA rolling circle replication reactions. The functionalized FWF nanoprobe containing the identification region for two targets monitoring and the trigger region for amplification signals is first used to activate the clustered amplification for two cancer-related microRNAs (miRNAs) assays in single cells. Furthermore, the self-assembled nanoclusters with two-way amplification signals can provide more reliable information in situ in individual cell. Importantly, this new method can significantly distinguish cancer cells from normal cells and identify changes in the expression levels of cancer-related miRNAs for single cells. These findings have exciting potential to provide new opportunities for detection and enhance the accuracy of early disease diagnosis.