Bioluminescence DNA hybridization assay for Plasmodium falciparum based on the photoprotein aequorin

Anal Chem. 2007 Jun 1;79(11):4149-53. doi: 10.1021/ac0702847. Epub 2007 May 4.

Abstract

A bioluminescence DNA hybridization assay for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly species of malaria, using the photoprotein aequorin as a bioluminescent label has been developed. The current gold standard for the detection of malaria is light microscopy, which can detect down to approximately 50 parasites/microL of blood, but has low-throughput, high costs, and requires high skill, which limit the applicability of the method, especially in the developing regions where malaria detection is mostly needed. The utilization of aequorin as a bioluminescence label offers the advantages of high signal-to-noise ratio and reliable detection down to attomole levels, allowing for the development of highly sensitive and miniaturized high-throughput bioluminescence assays. Herein, we developed a DNA hybridization assay for the detection of P. falciparum based on the competition between the target DNA and the signal generating DNA streptavidin-aequorin for hybridization with the probe DNA. This bioluminescence hybridization assay demonstrated a detection limit of 3 pg/microL and was employed for the detection of target DNA in standard and spiked human serum samples. The DNA hybridization assay was developed in a microplate format without the need for sample PCR amplification, showing the potential suitability of this method in the parallel analysis of samples by low-trained personnel, such as that typically encountered in developing regions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aequorin / analysis*
  • Aequorin / genetics*
  • Animals
  • DNA Probes / analysis*
  • DNA Probes / genetics*
  • DNA, Protozoan / analysis*
  • DNA, Protozoan / genetics*
  • Luminescent Measurements / methods*
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Plasmodium falciparum

Substances

  • DNA Probes
  • DNA, Protozoan
  • Aequorin