Sci Adv丨从“识别”到“发光”：可催化转化的DNA立方体让活细胞中的RNA病毒无处遁形

TL;DR - A Science Advances study introduces CAT-Cube, a programmable DNA nanostructure that directly visualizes and amplifies RNA-virus signals in living cells without modifying the virus. It also enables real-time evaluation of antiviral efficacy and mechanisms.

• Target viral RNA triggers catalytic hairpin strand displacement, repeatedly releasing the RNA to amplify fluorescence; in vitro signal was about 3.8× the negative control.
• CAT-Cube autonomously entered Vero E6 cells, remained responsive after 48 hours, and detected SARS-CoV-2 trVLP infection down to MOI 0.1.
• The system measured inhibition by an ACE2 inhibitor and S-protein-targeting DNA aptamers, which reduced virus-associated fluorescence by roughly 68–75%.
• Imaging and computational analyses suggested cepharanthine may block viral entry by interacting with both host ACE2 and viral S protein, while also affecting host translation-related processes.