Light-driven nano-oscillators for label-free single-molecule monitoring of microRNA

Light-driven nano-oscillators for label-free single-molecule monitoring of microRNA.

Zixuan Chen, Yujiao Peng, Yue Cao, Hui Wang, Jian-Rong Zhang, Hong-Yuan Chen & Jun-Jie Zhu. 

Nano. Lett. 18, 3759-3765 (2018).

Here, we present a mapping tool based on individual light-driven nano-oscillators for label-free single-molecule monitoring of microRNA. This design uses microRNA as a single-molecule damper for nano-oscillators by forming a rigid dualstrand structure in the gap between nano-oscillators and the immobilized surface. The ultrasensitive detection is attributed to comparable dimensions of the gap and microRNA. A developed surface plasmon-coupled scattering imaging technology enables us to directly measure the real-time gap distance vibration of multiple nano-oscillators with high accuracy and fast dynamics. High-level and low-level states of the oscillation amplitude indicate melting and hybridization statuses of microRNA. Lifetimes of two states reveal that the hybridization rate of microRNA is determined by the three-dimensional diffusion. This imaging technique contributes application potentials in a single-molecule detection and nanomechanics study.