Tingjie Song

Abstract Developing a comprehensive platform which has both diagnosis and therapeutic strategies is necessary for efficient tumor treatment. In this work, a F uel I mproved micro R NA E xplorer (FIRE) probe with signal amplification capability is designed for sensitive detection of microRNA‐21 (miR‐21), which is upregulated in most tumor cells. Besides, FIRE could be loaded by polyethylenimine (PEI)‐modified gold nanorods (AuNR‐PEI) via facile electrostatic interaction, which could avoid the complicated processes commonly used to covalently conjugate nucleic acid probes onto AuNRs. The as‐fabricated AuNR‐PEI/FIRE system could efficiently distinguish tumor cells from non‐tumor cells. The fluorescence signals in MCF‐7 breast carcinoma and HeLa cervical carcinoma cells treated with AuNR‐PEI/FIRE are enhanced 7‐ and 4.5‐fold, respectively, compared with non‐amplification system. AuNR‐PEI/FIRE improves tumor detection ability in vivo and exhibits excellent tumor inhibition efficacy under the fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging guided photothermal therapy. This is the first time to utilize the combined application of amplified nucleic acid detection and photothermal effect derived from gold nanorods together with PA imaging in a facile manner to provide a promising theranostic strategy for accurate diagnosis and tumor therapy.

Systematically controlling the morphology of nanoparticles, especially those growing from gold nanorod (AuNR) seeds, are underexplored; however, the AuNR and its related morphologies have shown promises in many applications. Herein we report the use of programmable DNA sequences to control AuNR overgrowth, resulting in gold nanoparticles varying from nanodumbbell to nanooctahedron, as well as shapes in between, with high yield and reproducibility. Kinetic studies revealed two representative pathways for the shape control evolving into distinct nanostructures. Furthermore, the geometric and plasmonic properties of the gold nanoparticles could be precisely controlled by adjusting the base compositions of DNA sequences or by introducing phosphorothioate modifications in the DNA. As a result, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks of the nanoparticles can be fine-tuned in a wide range, from visible to second near-infrared (NIR-II) region beyond 1000 nm.

A strategy for gold nanoparticle (AuNP) assembly driven by a dynamic DNA-fueled molecular machine is revealed here. In this machine, the aggregation of DNA-functionalized AuNPs is regulated by a series of toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions of DNA. The aggregation rate of the AuNPs can be regulated by controlling the amount of oligonucleotide catalyst. The versatility of the dynamic DNA-fueled molecular machine in the construction of two-component "OR" and "AND" logic gates has been demonstrated. This newly established strategy may find broad potential applications in terms of building up an "interface" that allows the combination of the strand displacement-based characteristic of DNA with the distinct assembly properties of inorganic nanoparticles, ultimately leading to the fabrication of a wide range of complex multicomponent devices and architectures.

Detecting metal ions in vivo with a high spatiotemporal resolution is critical to understanding the roles of the metal ions in both healthy and disease states. Although spatiotemporal controls of metal-ion sensors using light have been demonstrated, the lack of penetration depth in tissue and in vivo has limited their application. To overcome this limitation, we herein report the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to remotely deliver on-demand, spatiotemporally resolved thermal energy to activate the DNAzyme sensors at the targeted region both in vitro and in vivo. A Zn2+-selective DNAzyme probe is inactivated by a protector strand to block the formation of catalytic enzyme structure, which can then be activated by an HIFU-induced increase in the local temperature. With this design, Zn2+-specific fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging has been demonstrated by the new DNAzyme-HIFU probes in both HeLa cells and mice. The current method can be applied to monitor many other metal ions for in vivo imaging and medical diagnosis using metal-specific DNAzymes that have either been obtained or can be selected using in vitro selection.