JournalofVisualizedExperimentswww.jove.comCopyright©2012CreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercialLicenseMay2012|63|e3961|Page1of8VideoArticleDetectionofBacteriaUsingFluorogenicDNAzymesSergioD.Aguirre1,M.MonsurAli1,PushpinderKanda1,YingfuLi1,21DepartmentofBiochemistryandBiomedicalSciences,McMasterUniversity2DepartmentofChemistryandChemicalBiology,McMasterUniversityCorrespondenceto:YingfuLiatliying@mcmaster.caURL:http://www.jove.com/video/3961DOI:doi:10.3791/3961Keywords:Biochemistry,Issue63,Immunology,FluorogenicDNAzymes,E.coli,biosensor,bacterialdetectionDatePublished:5/28/2012Citation:Aguirre,S.D.,Ali,M.M.,Kanda,P.,Li,Y.DetectionofBacteriaUsingFluorogenicDNAzymes.J.Vis.Exp.(63),e3961,doi:10.3791/3961(2012).AbstractOutbreakslinkedtofood-borneandhospital-acquiredpathogensaccountformillionsofdeathsandhospitalizationsaswellascolossaleconomiclosseseachandeveryyear.Preventionofsuchoutbreaksandminimizationoftheimpactofanongoingepidemicplaceanever-increasingdemandforanalyticalmethodsthatcanaccuratelyidentifyculpritpathogensattheearlieststage.Althoughthereisalargearrayofeffectivemethodsforpathogendetection,noneofthemcansatisfyallthefollowingfivepremierrequirementsembodiedforanidealdetectionmethod:highspecificity(detectingonlythebacteriumofinterest),highsensitivity(capableofdetectingaslowasasinglelivebacterialcell),shorttime-to-results(minutestohours),greatoperationalsimplicity(noneedforlengthysamplingproceduresandtheuseofspecializedequipment),andcosteffectiveness.Forexample,classicalmicrobiologicalmethodsarehighlyspecificbutrequirealongtime(daystoweeks)toacquireadefinitiveresult.1PCR-andantibody-basedtechniquesoffershorterwaitingtimes(hourstodays),buttheyrequiretheuseofexpensivereagentsand/orsophisticatedequipment.2-4Consequently,thereisstillagreatdemandforscientificresearchtowardsdevelopinginnovativebacterialdetectionmethodsthatofferimprovedcharacteristicsinoneormoreoftheaforementionedrequirements.OurlaboratoryisinterestedinexaminingthepotentialofDNAzymesasanovelclassof...
