Development of a nanotechnology-based approach for capturing and detecting nucleic acids by using flow cytometry

Highlights

• A nanotechnology-based approach for capturing and detecting nucleic acids by flow cytometry has been developed.

• A great advantage is that molecular reactions are taking place in solution while the reading is done by using flow cytometry.

• Detection of KRAS codon 12 and miR-122 sequences using this approach has been successfully carried out.

• This approach will have a clear impact in molecular diagnostic.

Abstract

Nucleic acid-based molecular diagnosis has gained special importance for the detection and early diagnosis of genetic diseases as well as for the control of infectious disease outbreaks. The development of systems that allow for the detection and analysis of nucleic acids in a low-cost and easy-to-use way is of great importance. In this context, we present a combination of a nanotechnology-based approach with the already validated dynamic chemical labeling (DCL) technology, capable of reading nucleic acids with single-base resolution. This system allows for the detection of biotinylated molecular products followed by simple detection using a standard flow cytometer, a widely used platform in clinical and molecular laboratories, and therefore, is easy to implement. This proof-of-concept assay has been developed to detect mutations in KRAS codon 12, as these mutations are highly important in cancer development and cancer treatments.