A one-step dipstick assay for the on-site detection of nucleic acid

• A one-step nucleic acid dipstick assay was developed for detecting PCR products.
• Asymmetric PCR was used to achieve “one-step detection”.
• ACCPCR-NADA is an on-site nucleic acid diagnostic platform.

ObjectivesWe have developed a one-step nucleic acid dipstick assay (NADA) for visually detecting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products within 3 min. “One-step” means that there were no additional procedures between amplification and detection.MethodsThis method was achieved through the use of asymmetric PCR and specially designed probes with appropriate melting temperature values. We initially combined one-step NADA with asymmetric capillary convective PCR (ACCPCR), an easy and rapid nucleic acid amplification technique, to construct an on-site nucleic acid diagnostic platform.ResultsWe developed a diagnostic assay for the hepatitis B virus based on the ACCPCR-NADA platform to verify its feasibility. It exhibited an analytical sensitivity of three copies per test and a broad detection spectrum including genotype A–I. It also showed 97.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity based on the results observed using 67 serum samples with the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan (COBAS) system as the standard for comparison.ConclusionThe results provide evidence for the feasibility of using an ACCPCR-NADA platform in practical applications, especially in on-site test.