Enzyme-free amplified detection of micro RNA using target-catalyzed hairpin assembly and magnesium ion-dependent deoxyribozyme

As micro RNAs（mi RNAs） are aberrantly expressed in a variety of cancers, detecting them precisely is of great importance. Here we constructed a sensitive and selective enzyme-free sensing platform for mi RNA detection based on target-catalyzed hairpin assembly and magnesium ion-dependent deoxyribozyme（Mg^2＋-dependent DNAzyme）. This sensing method introduces two amplification circuits simultaneously and shows a low detection limit of 1 pmol/L. This enzyme-free method is especially preferred because of its facility and economy. Furthermore, this amplified sensor shows high selectivity for discriminating perfectly complementary target and other mismatched RNAs. Therefore, the established strategy could be used as a simple, sensitive and selective method for target mi RNA detection.