DNA tetrahedral nanostructure-corbelled DNA walker for intramolecular electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer sensing of tumor exosomes

Exosomes as new noninvasive biomarkers play a prominent role in early cancer diagnosis, but tumor-derived exosomes are difficult to detect upon tumor initiation because of their low levels. Herein, we proposed a novel and stable strategy for exosomes detection based on intramolecular electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) and DNA tetrahedral nanostructures (DTNs)-corbelled DNA walker. To enhance the ECL efficiency of luminophores, abundant Ru(bpy)32+ molecules were coordinatively immobilized on Zr12-adb nanoplates (NPs) to form Ru-Zr12-adb NPs. So, high ECL-RET efficiency based on the combination of Zr12-adb NPs (donor) and Ru(bpy)32+ (acceptor) into one nanostructure resulted in considerably enhanced ECL response. Impressively, DNA walker with six track strands supported by DTNs demonstrated enhanced walking speed and high reaction efficiency because of the improved local concentration and space confinement effect of DTNs. In consequence, this as-designed ingenious ECL biosensor exhibited excellent sensing performance for exosomes.