Tailored diagnostic tool for exosome detection utilizing DNA-based nanostructures

Exosomes are membrane-bound nanovesicles secreted by all cell types and contain diverse molecules. Detecting cancer-derived exosomes and their cargo, which are closely related to cancer staging, has significant clinical potential for early cancer diagnosis and prognosis prediction. Benefiting from the unique physical and chemical properties of DNA nanomaterials, DNA nanomaterial-based biosensors provide potential platforms for clinically accurate analysis of exosomes. This review highlights the advances, challenges, and outlook on DNA nanomaterial-based biosensors for cancer-derived exosomes and their cargo detection. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional DNA nanomaterials, including molecular beacons, DNAzymes, branched DNA, DNA nanowires, G-quadruplexes, DNA tetrahedron, DNA nanoflowers, DNA hydrogels, DNA cubes, and the state-of-the-art developments in exosomes and their cargo detection are elaborated in detail. Finally, the current gap in clinical applications of DNA nanomaterial-based biosensing technologies is discussed, which could offer guidance for the future application of these technologies in precise analysis of exosomes and early diagnosis of cancer.