The Owl Sensor: a highly specific nucleic acid

sensor for SNP detection using a DNA

crossover tile
Rebekah Karadeemaa and Dmitry M. Kolpashchikova,b,c
a

Chemistry Department, bBurnett School of Biomedical Sciences, cNational

Center for Forensic Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816
(USA)
Recent developments in DNA nanotechnology and synthetic biology prove
that DNA strands can be assembled into nanodevices. Here we developed a
nucleic acid sensor able to differentiate between a fully matched analyte and
one with a single mismatch in the temperature range of 5C-31C. The
sensor, dubbed here the Owl sensor due to the complexs resemblance to
owl eyes, is based on the formation of fluorescent DNA cross-over tiles that
produce a fluorescent signal that depends on the stability of the entire
formed complex. In the presence of fully matched nucleic acid analytes, a
stable complex forms; however in the presence of a mismatch in the analyte,
no complex formation is observed, allowing for the Owl sensor to
differentiate fully matched analyte from mismatched in a wide temperature
range, with mismatched analyte producing only the background
fluorescence.