Multiorbital DNA walker nanoprobe for portable photothermal detection based on H 2 S etching of cubic Prussian blue

In the developed assay, multiorbital 3D DNA walker (MO DNA walker) was applied as signal amplified protocol for enhancing the detection signal of the photothermal biosensor, which was designed for sensitive detection of miRNA based on the H 2 S triggered conversation of photothermal reagent. When the target molecule is present, the DNA walking strand was released and then hybridize with track strands. The landing of walking particles (WPT) on the tracking particles (TPT) promotes the relative movement of the WPT around TPT, thus releasing large amount of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with the aid of DNAzyme. After reacting with Na 2 S 2 O 3 and H 2 O 2 , multiple H 2 S can be generated in situ based on the catalytic ability of HRP. Meanwhile, cubic Prussian blue (CPB) was synthesized and exhibited superior photothermal response, which can be served as efficient photothermal reagent and H 2 S responsive acceptor. Significantly, the photothermal signal of CPB could be obviously reduced after challenged with H 2 S ascribed to synchronous reaction between the ferric ion (Fe 3+ ) and H 2 S. The improved walking area and freedom enable significant signal amplification, enhancing the biosensor’s performance. Under ideal circumstances, the proposed photothermal assay demonstrated excellent performance for determination of miRNA-21. Graphical Abstract