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Nanochannel-based analytical techniques have great potential applications for nucleic acid sequencing and high sensitivity detection of biological molecules. However, the sensitivity of conventional solid-state nanochannel sensors is hampered by a lack of effective signal amplification strategies, which has limited its utility in the field of analytical chemistry. Here we selected a solid-state nanochannnel modified with polyethylenimine and Zr 4+ in combination with graphene oxide as the sensing platform. The high-performance sensor is based upon the change of the surface charge of the nanochannel, which is resulted from DNA cascade signal amplification in solution. The target miRNA (miR-122) can be indirectly quantitated with a detection limit of 97.2 aM with an excellent selectivity. Depending on the nucleic acid's hybridization and configuration transform, the designed nanochannel sensing systems can realize the intelligent detection of multiple liver cancer-related miRNA (miR-122 and miR Let-7a) integrating with cascaded INHIBIT-OR logic gate to provide theoretical guidance and technical support for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of liver cancer. more...

Cancer is a huge challenge humanity facing today, and single chemical treatments inevitably have shortcomings such as poor selectivity and large side effects. This paper constructed an egg yolk phospholipids modified molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanocarrier system for the treatment of tumors via the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. The lipid-modified layered MoS 2 (MoS 2 -Lipid) nanocomposite was synthesized by simple physical adsorption. The lipid modification strongly enhanced the stability of MoS 2 nanosheets and the nanocarrier has a large drug loading amount with pH dependent DOX release profile, an excellent photothermal property, and an ideal cellular uptake property. Therefore, we combined chemotherapy and photothermal therapy to treat tumors synergistically. Through in vitro cell experiments, pure nanocomposite had no obvious cytotoxicity to cells, and the synergistic treatment of tumors by chemotherapy and photothermal therapy was more effective than any single treatment. More importantly, in vivo experiments indicated that lipid modification enhanced the accumulation of the nanocarrier in mice tumors, thus a better photothermal performance could be seen compared with original MoS 2 nanosheets. In summary, the MoS 2 -lipid nanocomposite is a promising nanocarrier for the treatment of tumors by chemo and photothermal therapy., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) more...