Aptamer-Based Fluorescent Assay for Sensitive Detection of Cardiac Troponin I

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major health problem leading to high rates of mortality and morbidity. Biomarker cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has shown high sensitivity and specificity towards AMI detection, and has been regarded as "gold standard". An ultrasensitive method to detect cTnI with low concentration in human fluid is essential. In this paper, we developed an aptamer-based assay coupled with rolling circle amplification (RCA) and molecular beacon probe for sensitive detection of cTnI. In this strategy, aptamer acts as a bridge to communicate between oligonucleotides and cTnI. RCA reaction produces a single-stranded tandem repeated copy of the circular template, which are recognized by fluorescence molecular beacon probe. With this strategy, highly sensitive and specific detection of cTnI was realized with the lowest detectable concentration of 7.24 pg/mL. The developed aptamer-RCA assay can be a promising tool in clinical samples analysis. The assay can also analyze other disease-related biomarkers by replacing the aptamer.