ABSTRACT
In recent years, interest in the development of electrochemical
strategies for the detection of basepair mismatches in DNA has
increased dramatically. Electrochemistry-based methods present
a promising alternative for optical detection schemes, and are
attractive because they offer the potential for high speed, high
sensitivity and high throughput detection of mismatches at a
minimal cost. Moreover, electrochemical sensors offer tremendous
advantages in terms of ease of integration and miniaturization,
especially in comparison to their optical counterparts. In this chap-
ter, we provide an overview over recent electrochemical mismatch
detection strategies and summarize the state of the art in this field.
We begin our discussion with the preparation of surfaces and the
immobilization of a capture strand and continue with an overview
of detection strategies that exploit the direct electrochemistry of
nucleobases, the conductive properties of DNA or use hybridization
indicators, intercalators and groove binders. Methods employing
synthetic DNA analogues such as peptide nucleic acids (PNA) are
also discussed. Finally, protein and enzyme mediated biosensors,
nanoparticle based sensors, metal ion amplified sensors and a range
of miscellaneous methods is discussed.
