A one-tube multiplexed colorimetric strategy based on plasmonic nanoparticles combined with non-negative matrix factorization

Herein, a one-tube colorimetric platform has been developed for the simultaneous determination of two analytes (DNA as model object) in one tube with picomolar sensitivity. SPR-active nanoparticles are used to encode reporter probes sensitive to oligonucleotides associated with hepatitis A virus Vall7 polyprotein gene (HVA) and hepatitis B virus surface-antigen gene (HVB) respectively and magnetic beads (MBs) serve as the removal tool. In this mixed nanoparticles based biosensor, the addition of target analytes could change the concentration of each nanoparticle, leading to different colors of the supernatant. The influence of spectral overlap has been eliminated by a non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). With the assistance of NMF, the limit of detection (LOD) can be determinated as pM level without amplification. On the whole, this nanosensor boasts the advantages of high sensitivity and low sample consumption. Simultaneous colorimetric detection and quantification of two molecules in one tube are demonstrated.