Square wave voltammetric detection of Anthrax utilizing a peptide for selective recognition of a protein biomarker

Biosens Bioelectron. 2009 Oct 15;25(2):469-74. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2009.08.002. Epub 2009 Aug 7.

Abstract

A short chain peptide (16mer) has been successfully utilized for the selective electrochemical detection of the protein biomarker, protective antigen (PA), for the diagnosis of Anthrax. The major motivation of using a peptide instead of an antibody for the development of a biosensor is that there are advantages associated with the smaller size, better biological stability and easy synthesizability of a peptide. PA-selective peptide was synthesized and conjugated on a binding layer previously immobilized onto gold electrode. The same sensing scheme using a conventional antibody instead of a peptide was also tested for the purpose of comparison. Since the size of the peptide is approximately 1-2 orders of magnitude smaller than that of the antibody, a more populated immobilization of peptide on the sensing layer is possible and will eventually lead to improved sensitivity for PA detection. The selectivity of the peptide-based sensor was evaluated by observing the reduction peaks of samples containing PA with different concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The resulting responses were interference-free from BSA. The results of this study demonstrate the strong analytical potential of a peptide-based biosensor for diverse applications, especially in disease diagnosis where detection of a specific protein biomarker is particularly demanding.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anthrax / diagnosis*
  • Anthrax / metabolism*
  • Antigens, Bacterial / blood*
  • Bacterial Toxins / blood*
  • Biomarkers / analysis
  • Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Blood Chemical Analysis / instrumentation*
  • Electrochemistry / instrumentation*
  • Electrodes
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Humans
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Transducers

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Biomarkers
  • Peptides
  • anthrax toxin