A Photoelectrochemical Nanoreactor for Single‐Cell Sampling and Near Zero‐Background Faradaic Detection of Intracellular microRNA

Abstract Rational utilization of the rich light‐bio‐matter interplay taking place in single‐cell analysis represents a new technological direction in the field. The light‐fueled operation is expected to achieve advanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) single‐cell analysis with unknown possibilities. Here, a PEC nanoreactor capable of single‐cell sampling and near zero‐background Faradaic detection of intracellular microRNA (miR) is devised by the construction of a small reaction chamber accommodating the target‐triggered hybridization chain reaction for binding the metallointercalator of [Ru(bpy) 2 (dppz)] 2+ as the signal reporter. Light stimulation of the dsDNA/metallointercalator adduct will induce the generation of photocurrents, underpinning a zero‐biased and near zero‐background PEC method toward Faradaic detection of non‐electrogenic miR at the single‐cell level. Using this nanotool, lower miR concentration in the near‐nucleus region than that in the main cytosol was revealed.