ArticleJournal of pharmaceutical analysis2026
A nanotechnology-enhanced SERS platform integrated with isothermal amplification for ultrasensitive detection of urinary miR-21 in early acute kidney injury diagnosis.
Article in Journal of pharmaceutical analysis, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nucleic acid probe-functionalized self-powered sensor for detection of biomarkers in clinical urine samples.Science advances · 2026Article
- Emerging Plasmonic Nanomaterials for SERS-Based Disease Diagnostics: Innovations, Clinical Challenges, and AI Integration.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Acute kidney injury (AKI) remains a critical clinical condition with high morbidity and mortality, underscoring the urgent need for early and accurate diagnostic tools. Traditional biomarkers such as serum creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) suffer from delayed response and lack of specificity, limiting their utility in early-stage AKI detection. This study presents an innovative nanotechnology-enabled platform combining isothermal nucleic acid amplification with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for the direct and ultrasensitive detection of urinary microRNA-21 (miR-21), a promising early biomarker for AKI. The platform leverages a cascade signal amplification strategy: (1) a polymerase/endonuclease-mediated isothermal amplification system for target recognition and primer generation, (2) a hybridization chain reaction (HCR) to self-assemble DNA nanostructures conjugated with gold nanostars core with silver shell and 4-aminothiophenol (AuNS/Ag@4-ATP) SERS nanoprobes, and (3) a polyadenine-functionalized SERS substrate for robust signal capture. This integrated approach achieves a remarkable detection limit of 8.4 femtomolar (fM), surpassing conventional methods like quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in sensitivity while eliminating the need for RNA extraction or thermocycling. Clinical validation using patient urine samples demonstrated the platform's ability to detect miR-21 elevations 24-48 h earlier than traditional biomarkers, with exceptional specificity and reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) < 5.7%). The modular design and direct urine compatibility highlight its potential for point-of-care applications, offering a rapid (<2 h) and equipment-minimized solution for early AKI diagnosis. This work not only advances AKI biomarker detection but also provides an adaptable framework for other disease-related nucleic acid analyses, bridging nanotechnology with clinical diagnostics.
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