Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

DNA origami signal amplification in lateral flow immunoassays

Heini Ijäs, Julian Trommler, Linh Nguyen, Stefan van Rest, Philipp C. Nickels, Tim Liedl, Maximilian J. Urban

Nature Communications · 2025

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Summary

This paper presents a DNA origami-based signal amplification platform designed to enhance the sensitivity of lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs), addressing a key limitation of paper-based point-of-care tests. Using DNA origami as a molecular adapter to connect detection antibodies to multiple signal-generating labels, the authors achieved substantial sensitivity gains: 55-fold improvement with gold nanoparticles and up to 125-fold with fluorescent dyes. The modular approach is compatible with diverse analytes, labels, and sample matrices, offering potential to broaden the clinical utility of rapid lateral flow tests.

Regional applicability

This is a general laboratory methodology paper with no agricultural or farming systems relevance to UK practice. The technology may have future applications in point-of-care testing in UK healthcare and diagnostics sectors, but does not directly address farming systems, soil health, nutrient density, or food production.

Key measures

Assay sensitivity improvement factor (55-fold with gold nanoparticles; up to 125-fold with fluorescent dyes); detection of cardiac troponin I in human serum

Outcomes reported

The study demonstrated a 55-fold sensitivity improvement in lateral flow immunoassays using DNA origami-based signal amplification with 40-nm gold nanoparticles, and up to 125-fold amplification with fluorescent dyes. The technology was validated using cardiac troponin I detection in human serum as a proof-of-concept application.

Theme
Measurement & metrics
Subject
Measurement methods & nutrient profiling
Study type
Research
Study design
Laboratory / in vitro technical development
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
System type
Laboratory / in vitro
DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-57385-6
Catalogue ID
SNmoj1ystw-puy1k2

Topic tags

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