Principles of nucleic acid toehold mediated strand displacement (TMSD) reaction model and its applications in cell environment

Abstract

We summarize the principles of nucleic acid TMSD reaction and highlight the successful development of the application of nucleic acid TMSD reaction in the cell environment.

Sea Anemone-like Nanomachine Based on DNA Strand Displacement Composed of Three Boolean Logic Gates: Diversified Input for Intracellular Multitarget Detection

“…Extensive research indicates that tumors’ early diagnosis and prognosis are directly dependent on the expression of more than one miRNA, making multiple miRNA detection more reliable than single miRNA detection. − The toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD) reaction refers to the transformation process in which the invading strand replaces the displacing strand from the substrate strand, starting from the toehold domain, similar to homologous recombination. The “invading strand–displacing strand” model of the TMSD reaction closely matches the “input–output” model of logic gates, where the invading strand induces the TMSD reaction to release another DNA strand, which is then released, captured, and manipulated by a specific recognition method. ,− Thus, the SDLG strategy can be designed on the basis of this relationship, which accomplishes the intelligent analysis of multitargets, giving a uniform YES or NO output. However, it is hard to design higher-order logic circuits capable of synthesizing more than three targets at the DNA molecular level.…”