Solid-Phase Collateral Cleavage System Based on CRISPR/Cas12 and Its Application toward Facile One-Pot Multiplex Double-Stranded DNA Detection

Abstract

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 12 (Cas12) system is attracting interest for its potential as a next-generation nucleic acid detection tool. The system can recognize double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) based on Cas12-CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and induce signal transduction by collateral cleavage. This property is expected to simplify comprehensive genotyping. Here, we report a solid-phase collateral cleavage (SPCC) reaction by CRISPR/Cas12 and its application toward one-pot multiplex dsDNA detection with minimal operational steps. In the sensor, Cas12-crRNA and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) are immobilized on the sensing surface and act as enzyme and reporter substrates, respectively. We also report a dual-target dsDNA sensor prepared by immobilizing Cas12-crRNA and a fluorophore-labeled ssDNA reporter on separate spots. When a spot captures a target dsDNA sequence, it cleaves the ssDNA reporter on the same spot and reduces its fluorescence by 42.1–57.3%. Crucially, spots targeting different sequences do not show a reduction in fluorescence, thus confirming the one-pot multiplex dsDNA detection by SPCC. Furthermore, the sequence specificity has a two-base resolution, and the detectable concentration for the target dsDNA is at least 10^–9 M. In the future, the SPCC-based sensor array could achieve one-pot comprehensive genotyping by using an array spotter as a reagent-immobilizing method.