Stochastic bipedal dual-DNA walkers for fast and sensitive detection of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease1 and inhibitor screening

DNA walkers have emerged as a powerful tool in various biosensors, enabling the detection of low-abundance analytes with their precise programmability and efficient signal amplification capacity. However, many existing approaches are hampered by limited reaction kinetics. Herein, we designed a stochastic bipedal dual-DNA walkers (SBDW) that can traverse at high speed on AuNP-based three-dimensional (3D) tracks powered by Exo III. The SBDW exhibited superior reaction kinetics and are up to least 2.25 times faster than traditional DNA walkers, reaching a plateau within 40 min. This advancement allows for rapid and highly sensitive fluorescence detection of a significant base excision repair enzyme of APE1 with a detection limit of 0.001 U/mL. In comparison to traditional DNA walkers, this platform enables highly sensitive and specific APE1 assays in cell lysate and facilitates rapid and accurate screening of APE1 inhibitors. Given its rapid, sensitive, specific, and reliable analysis features, the strategy shows great promise in drug discovery and clinical diagnosis. [Display omitted] The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.•The SBDW exhibited superior reaction kinetics, reaching a plateau within 40 min.•This advancement allows for rapid and highly sensitive fluorescence detection of APE1.•This platform enables highly sensitive and specific APE1 assays in cell lysate.•Moreover, this platform facilitates rapid and accurate screening of APE1 inhibitors.