Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Researchers from Cornell University have developed an assay for the multiplexed detection of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, a precursor to an infectious type of cancer found mainly in developing countries and difficult to diagnose) and bacillary angiomatosis (BA) based on the colorimetric properties of thiol-modified oligonucleotide-gold and silver nanoparticle conjugates.

The BA-conjugated silver and KSHV-conjugated gold nanoparticles were combined in a single tube and aggregation of the nanoparticles was induced by addition of complementary DNA.  Addition of BA complementary DNA resulted in a red-coloured solution associated with unaggregated gold nanoparticles, while the addition of KSHV complementary DNA resulted in a yellow-orange solution associated with unaggregated silver nanoparticles.  The sensitivity of the assay was 2 nM and 1 nM complementary DNA for gold and silver nanoparticle conjugates, respectively.

The authors propose that this simple strategy for DNA detection could be integrated into a microfluidic device for rapid point-of-care detection of KSHV.

By Dr Lee Barrett

Read the full details of this exciting research published in Nanoscale:

Multiplexed colorimetric detection of Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus and Bartonella DNA using gold and silver nanoparticles
Matthew Mancuso, Li Jiang, Ethel Cesarman and David Erickson
DOI: 10.1039/C3NR33492A