Framework Nucleic Acids Combined with Three-Dimensional Hybridization Chain Reaction Amplifiers for Monitoring Multiple Human Tear Cytokines

Existing tear sensors are difficult to perform multiplexed assays due to the minute amounts of biomolecules in tearsand the tiny volume of tears. Herein, we leverage DNA tetrahedral frameworks (DTFs) modified on the wireless portable electrodes to effectively capture three dimensional (3D)-hybridization chain reaction (HCR) amplifiers for automatic and sensitive monitoring of multiple cytokines in human tears. The developed sensors allow the sensitive determination of various dry eye syndrome (DES)-associated cytokines in human tears with the limit of detection down to 0.1 pg/mL, consuming as little as 3 microliters of tear fluid. Double-blind testing of clinical DES samples using the developed sensor and commercial ELISA showed no significant difference between them. Compared with single-biomarker diagnosis, the diagnostic accuracy of this sensor based on multiple biomarkers has improved by approximately 16%. The developed system offers the potential for tear sensors to enable personalized and accurate diagnosis of various ocular diseases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved