Dual-color quantum dots-based simultaneous detection of HPV-HIV co-infection

Human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are closely related infections; both diseases are mutually reinforcing due to the co-infection effects, which increase their clinical and epidemiological implications, raising urgent public health concerns. In the present study, a nano-system was developed for simultaneous detection of HPV and HIV targeting E6-HPV16 and Gag-HIV genes respectively. The target sequences from the samples of the patients suffering from head and neck cancer were isolated by magnetic glass particles (MGPs) and subsequently were hybridized with a mixture of the complementary probes attached to cadmium telluride quantum dots (CdTe QDs). Finally, the specific and successful binding was determined by an easy fluorescence analyses and was corroborated by PCR and electrochemistry. Red and green CdTe QDs were used for the dual-color detection of HPV and HIV respectively. Our nano-system can be applied as a proficient tool for the identification of HPV, HIV or both diseases simultaneously, getting a successful and high sensitivity system of detection.