Programmable CRISPR-mediated gold nanoparticle adhesion for visual colorimetric detection.

Kurt T Schalper, Rui Yang, Xin Guan, Jiongyu Zhang, Daniel Schreiber, Jeong Moon, Changchun Liu

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Biosensors & bioelectronics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

CRISPR-Programmable Nanoparticle Transport in Salt-Gated Porous Media for Visual DNA Detection.Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Kurt T SchalperDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 06269, United States.

Rui YangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 06269, United States.

Xin GuanDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 06269, United States.

Jiongyu ZhangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States.

Daniel SchreiberDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 06269, United States.

Jeong MoonDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States; Department of Biopharmaceutical Science, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, 31538, Republic of Korea.

Changchun LiuDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06032, United States. Electronic address: chaliu@uchc.edu.

Funding

Low-Cost CRISPR-on-Paper for Cervical Cancer Screening at the Point of CareU01CA269147 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · PI Changchun Liu · 2022 to 2026

$2.6M

NCI NIH HHS U01 CA269147

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While the aggregation behavior of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been extensively studied in biosensing, catalysis, and nanomedicine, their potential for programmable surface adhesion via tunable surface chemistry remains largely untapped. Here, a programmable CRISPR-mediated hydrophobic adhesion phenomenon using streptavidin-coated AuNPs functionalized with Cy5-ssDNA-biotin probes is introduced. Hydrophobic Cy5 moieties on the AuNP surface induce localized aggregation and strong adhesion to hydrophobic surfaces. This unique behavior was leveraged by coupling CRISPR-Cas12a-mediated ssDNA cleavage with Cy5-labeled ssDNA-coated AuNPs to develop a simple, visual-readout colorimetric assay for nucleic acid detection. When combined with recombinase polymerase amplification, the method achieved ultrasensitive detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA down to 10 aM, without the need for complex instrumentation. The platform's clinical utility was validated by detecting HPV DNA in cervical swab samples, highlighting its promise for low-cost, sensitive, and accessible point-of-care diagnostics in resource-limited settings. Unlike conventional aggregation-dispersion systems, this platform introduces a fundamentally distinct signal transduction mechanism based on surface adhesion, defining a new modality within CRISPR-based colorimetric diagnostics and offering a simple, low-cost solution for point-of-care testing.

Indexed as

Biosensing TechniquesColorimetryCRISPR-Cas SystemsDNA, ViralGoldMetal NanoparticlesPapillomaviridaePapillomavirus InfectionsDNA, Single-StrandedFemaleHumansLimit of DetectionDNA, Single-StrandedDNA, ViralGoldColorimetric detectionCRISPR-Cas12a diagnosticsGold nanoparticlesProgrammable surface adhesionStimuli-responsive surface chemistry

Identifiers

PMID41406662

DOI10.1016/j.bios.2025.118319

PMCPMC12746689

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.