Enzyme-free and highly sensitive detection of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 based on MNAzyme signal amplification in breast cancer†

As a common cancer biomarker, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is highly expressed in breast cancer. Consequently, developing a simple and accurate HER2 sensing platform is of great significance for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Herein, we developed a rapid enzyme-free fluorescent assay biosensor based on MNAzyme signal amplification for breast cancer biomarker, HER2. The MNAzyme consists of multiple parts, including complementary DNA (cDNA) and two parts of DNAzyme (partzyme A/B). Initially, cDNA is blocked by combining with the HER2 aptamer to form a double-stranded DNA. When HER2 is present, cDNA is released as a result of the binding between HER2 and its aptamer. Due to the complementary sequences among cDNA and partzyme A/B, the MNAzyme is successfully assembled to cleave the substrate, recovering the fluorescence output. The MNAzyme biosensor exhibited a low detection limit of 0.02 ng mL⁻¹ and excellent selectivity. Furthermore, the proposed biosensor can also change the recognition element by changing the aptamer sequence to detect various biomarkers, holding great potential for cancer diagnosis and other related biomedical applications.