Issue 32, 2017

Highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of a prostate cancer biomarker

Abstract

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a glycoprotein expressed in the prostatic epithelium endowed with enzymatic activity, is a very promising diagnostic marker for the early detection of prostate cancer. In this study, we report a novel electrochemiluminescence ELISA-like immunosensor based on carbon nanotubes and a highly specific sandwich immunoassay for the PSMA detection. To fabricate the device, an optically transparent electrode was modified with doubly functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes carrying amine groups and a monoclonal anti-PSMA antibody. Subsequently, to complete the sandwich immunosensing device, a second specific monoclonal anti-PSMA antibody was labelled with a electrochemiluminescent probe. Under optimized experimental conditions, the proposed sensing device exhibits a performance exceeding that of the state of-the-art in terms of the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) as good as 0.88 ng mL−1 and 2.60 ng mL−1, respectively, in real complex samples such as cell lysates. In addition, the unique role of carbon nanotubes is also discussed by comparison with an analogue sensor assembled without the nanocarbon-based material.

Graphical abstract: Highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of a prostate cancer biomarker

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Jun 2017
Accepted
11 Jul 2017
First published
11 Jul 2017

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 6681-6687

Highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of a prostate cancer biomarker

A. Juzgado, A. Soldà, A. Ostric, A. Criado, G. Valenti, S. Rapino, G. Conti, G. Fracasso, F. Paolucci and M. Prato, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 6681 DOI: 10.1039/C7TB01557G

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