Engineering of Interfaces with Tetrahedra DNA Nanostructures for Biosensing Applications

Abstract

The probe-target interactions in the interfaces are significantly critical to biosensing. However, the disordered arrangement of probes and nonspecific adsorption of proteins in the biosensing interfaces for conventional biosensors often restricted the accessibility and recognition efficiency of probes towards targets, leading to poor detection performances (e. g., sensitivity and selectivity). Engineering of biosensing interfaces with functional molecules or nanomaterials has provided a promising molecular toolkit for enhanced accessibility and efficient recognition of biosensing probes. Among them, DNA has been an appealing material for interface engineering, because of its unique merits of biocompatible, predictable hybridization, and unparallel self-assembly ability. In particular, employing tetrahedra DNA nanostructures (TDNs) to engineer interfaces has been a powerful means to improve biosensor performance. Here, this review introduces the recent progress in TDN-based interface engineering. Then, we summarize the roles of TDNs in tailoring the properties of different interfaces, including electrode surface, channel surface, cell surface, etc., and highlight their biosensing applications. Finally, scientific challenges and future perspectives of TDN-engineered biosensing interface are also discussed.