An electrochemiluminescent imaging strategy based on CRISPR/Cas12a for ultrasensitive detection of nucleic acid

Background: Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) significantly contributes to the development of cervical cancer. Thus, it is urgent to develop rapid and accurate methods for HPV detection. Herein, we present an ultrasensitive CRISPR/Cas12a-based electrochemiluminescent (ECL) imaging technique for the detection of HPV-18 DNA. Result: The ECL DNA sensor array is constructed by applying black hole quencher (BHQ) and polymer dots (Pdots) co-labeled hairpin DNA (hpDNA) onto a gold-coated indium tin oxide slide (Au-ITO). The ECL imaging method involves an incubation process of target HPV-18 with a mixture of crRNA and Cas12a to activate Cas12a, followed by an incubation of the active Cas12a with the ECL sensor. This interaction causes the indiscriminate cleavage of BHQ from Pdots by digesting hpDNA on the sensor surface, leading to the restoration of the ECL signal of Pdots. The ECL brightness readout demonstrates superior performance of the ECL imaging technique, with a linear detection range of 10 fM-500 pM and a limit-of-detection (LOD) of 5.3 fM. Significance: The Cas12a-based ECL imaging approach offers high sensitivity and a broad detection range, making it highly promising for nucleic acid detection applications.