Controlling and mitigating infectious diseases caused
by multiple
pathogens or pathogens with several subtypes require multiplex nucleic
acid detection platforms that can detect several target genes rapidly,
specifically, sensitively, and simultaneously. Here, we develop a
detection platform, termed Multiplex Assay of RPA and Collateral Effect
of Cas12a-based System (MARPLES), based on multiplex nucleic acid
amplification and Cas12a ssDNase activation to diagnose these diseases
and identify their pathogens. We use the clinical specimens of hand,
foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and influenza A to evaluate the feasibility
of MARPLES in diagnosing the disease and identifying the pathogen,
respectively, and find that MARPLES can accurately diagnose the HFMD
associated with enterovirus 71, coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16), CVA6,
or CVA10 and identify the exact types of H1N1 and H3N2 in an hour,
showing high sensitivity and specificity and 100% predictive agreement
with qRT-PCR. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that MARPLES
is a promising multiplex nucleic acid detection platform for disease
diagnosis and pathogen identification.