Label-free electrochemical aptasensor for detection of alpha-fetoprotein based on AFP-aptamer and thionin/reduced graphene oxide/gold nanoparticles

Guiyin Li; Shanshan Li; Zhihong Wang; Yewei Xue; Chenyang Dong; Junxiang Zeng; Yong Huang; Jintao Liang; Zhide Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.ab.2018.02.012

Label-free electrochemical aptasensor for detection of alpha-fetoprotein based on AFP-aptamer and thionin/reduced graphene oxide/gold nanoparticles

Anal Biochem. 2018 Apr 15:547:37-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2018.02.012. Epub 2018 Feb 13.

Authors

Guiyin Li¹, Shanshan Li², Zhihong Wang², Yewei Xue², Chenyang Dong², Junxiang Zeng², Yong Huang³, Jintao Liang⁴, Zhide Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China; National Center for International Research of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
² School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China.
³ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China; National Center for International Research of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 29452105
DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2018.02.012

Abstract

Sensitive and accurate detection of tumor markers is critical to early diagnosis, point-of-care and portable medical supervision. Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is an important clinical tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the concentration of AFP in human serum is related to the stage of HCC. In this paper, a label-free electrochemical aptasensor for AFP detection was fabricated using AFP-aptamer as the recognition molecule and thionin/reduced graphene oxide/gold nanoparticles (TH/RGO/Au NPs) as the sensor platform. With high electrocatalytic property and large specific surface area, RGO and Au NPs were employed on the screen-printed carbon electrode to load TH molecules. The TH not only acted as a bridging molecule to effectively capture and immobilize AFP-aptamer, but as the electron transfer mediator to provide the electrochemical signal. The AFP detection was based on the monitoring of the electrochemical current response change of TH by the differential pulse voltammetry. Under optimal conditions, the electrochemical responses were proportional to the AFP concentration in the range of 0.1-100.0 μg/mL. The limit of detection was 0.050 μg/mL at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The proposed method may provide a promising application of aptamer with the properties of facile procedure, low cost, high selectivity in clinic.

Keywords: Alpha fetoprotein; Aptamer; Label-free electrochemical aptasensor; Reduced graphene oxide; Thionin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aptamers, Nucleotide / chemistry*
Gold / chemistry*
Graphite / chemistry*
Humans
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Thionins / chemistry*
alpha-Fetoproteins / analysis*

Substances

Aptamers, Nucleotide
Thionins
alpha-Fetoproteins
graphene oxide
Gold
Graphite