Researchers analyze exosomes through dual-recognition combined with G-quadruplex nanowires

Cancer-derived exosomes have emerged as a valuable biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However, the heterogeneity of exosomes often leads to low selectivity based on the single recognition method. Researchers at the Nanjing Medical University have developed a dual-aptamer recognition strategy based on G-quadruplex nanowires for selective analysis of exosomes. In this work, target exosomes were first captured by CD63 aptamers modified on magnetic beads (MBs) and then combined with AS1411 aptamer, which shows high binding affinity to nucleolin when forming stable G-quadruplex structure. Then the free myc monomer can spontaneously assemble into higher order G-wire superstructures on the allosteric AS1411, and resulting enhanced fluorescence signal, which can realize sensitive and specific analysis of the target exosomes. This dual-aptamer recognition-based method is simple and universal for different types of exosomes, which is of great significance for clinical cancer diagnosis.