Gold aggregating gold: A novel nanoparticle biosensor approach for the direct quantification of hepatitis C virus RNA in clinical samples.

ABSTRACT: The affordable and reliable detection of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) RNA is a cornerstone in the management and control of infection, affecting approximately 3% of the global population. However, the existing technologies are expensive, labor intensive and time consuming, posing significant limitations to their wide-scale exploitation, particularly in economically deprived populations. Here, we utilized the unique optical and physicochemical properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to develop a novel assay platform shown to be rapid and robust in sensing and quantifying unamplified HCV RNA in clinical samples. The assay is based on inducing aggregation of citrate AuNPs decorated with a specific nucleic acid probe. Two types of cationic AuNPs, cysteamine and CTAB capped, were compared to achiev

SUBMITTER: Shawky SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5345390 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature