While it has been well recognized that affordable and pocket-size devices play a major role in environmental monitoring, food safety and medical diagnostics, it often takes a tremendous amount of resources to develop such devices. Devices that have been developed are often dedicated devices that can detect only one or a few targets. To overcome these limitations, we herein report a novel target-responsive smart thermometer for translating molecular detection into a temperature test. The sensor system consists of a functional DNA–phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂) enzyme conjugate, a liposome-encapsulated NIR dye, and a thermometer interfaced with a NIR-laser device. The sensing principle is based on the target-induced release of PLA₂ from the DNA–enzyme conjugate, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of liposome to release the NIR dye inside the liposome. Upon NIR-laser irradiation, the released dye can convert excitation energy into heat, producing a temperature increase in solution, which is detectable using a thermometer. Considering the low cost and facile incorporation of the system with suitable functional DNAs to recognize many targets, the system demonstrated here makes the thermometer an affordable and pocket-size meter for the detection and quantification of a wide range of targets.

中文翻译：

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使用目标响应型智能温度计将分子检测转化为简单的温度测试†

众所周知，价格合理的袖珍设备在环境监测，食品安全和医疗诊断中起着重要作用，但开发此类设备通常需要大量资源。已开发的设备通常是只能检测一个或几个目标的专用设备。为了克服这些局限性，我们在此报告了一种新型的目标响应智能温度计，用于将分子检测转化为温度测试。传感器系统由功能性DNA-磷脂酶A ₂（PLA ₂）酶偶联物，脂质体包裹的NIR染料和与NIR激光设备连接的温度计组成。感测原理基于PLA ₂的目标诱导释放DNA-酶结合物中的蛋白质，它催化脂质体的水解以在脂质体内释放NIR染料。在近红外激光照射下，释放的染料可以将激发能转化为热量，从而使溶液温度升高，这可以使用温度计检测到。考虑到该系统的价格低廉且易于与合适的功能性DNA结合以识别许多目标，此处展示的系统使温度计成为一种经济实惠的袖珍型仪表，可检测和定量各种目标。