Gold-Nanoparticle Sensors: Visualizing Human Telomerase Activity with Primer-Modified Au Nanoparticles (Small 2/2012)
Graphical Abstract
The cover picture features how human telomerase activity can be visualized using primer-modified Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). Telomerase is over-expressed in over 85% of all known human tumors, making the enzyme a valuable biomarker for cancer diagnosis and an important therapeutic target. The working principle in the strategy featured here is based on elongated primers conjugated to a AuNP surface, which can fold into a G-quadruplex to protect the AuNPs from aggregation. This simple and sensitive colorimetric assay can measure telomerase activity down to 1 HeLa cell μL−1. More importantly, it can be easily extended to a high-throughput and automatic format. The method does not involve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and therefore avoids amplification-related errors, making it reliable for the evaluation of telomerase activity. It is successfully used for the initial screening of telomerase inhibitors as anticancer drug agents. For more information, please read the Full Paper “Visualizing Human Telomerase Activity with Primer-Modified Au Nanoparticles” by X. Qu and co-workers, beginning on page 259.
