Polyhedral Au Nanoparticle/MoO x Heterojunction-Enhanced Ultrasensitive Dual-Mode Biosensor for miRNA Detection Combined with a Nonenzymatic Cascade DNA Amplification Circuit.

A novel homologous surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-electrochemical (EC) dual-mode biosensor based on a 3D/2D polyhedral Au nanoparticle/MoO _x nanosheet heterojunction (PAMS HJ) and target-triggered nonenzyme cascade autocatalytic DNA amplification (CADA) circuit was constructed for highly sensitive detection of microRNA (miRNA). Mixed-dimensional heterostructures were prepared by in situ growth of polyhedral Au nanoparticles (PANPs) on the surface of MoO _x nanosheets (MoO _x NSs) via a seed-mediated growth method. As a detection substrate, the resulting PAMS HJ shows the synergistic effects of both electromagnetic and chemical enhancements, efficient charge transfer, and robust stability, thus achieving a high SERS enhancement factor (EF) of 4.2 × 10 ⁹ and strong EC sensing performance. Furthermore, the highly efficient molecular recognition between the target and smart lock probe and the gradually accelerated cascade amplification reaction further improved the selectivity and sensitivity of our sensing platform. The detection limits of miRNA-21 in SERS mode and EC mode were 0.22 and 2.69 aM, respectively. More importantly, the proposed dual-mode detection platform displayed excellent anti-interference and accuracy in the analysis of miRNA-21 in human serum and cell lysates, indicating its potential as a reliable tool in the field of biosensing and clinical analysis.