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A sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor based on Au-rGO composite for CA15-3 tumor marker detection

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Abstract

A sensitive detection of carbohydrate antigen 15–3 (CA15-3) levels may allow for early diagnosis and monitoring the treatment of breast cancer, but this can only be made in routine clinical practice if low-cost immunosensors are available. In this work, we developed a sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor capable of rapid detection of CA15-3 with an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.08 fg mL−1 within a wide linear concentration range from 0.1 fg mL−1 to 1 µg mL−1. The immunosensor had a matrix of a layer-by-layer film of Au nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide (Au-rGO) co-electrodeposited on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE). The high sensitivity was achieved by using secondary antibodies (Ab2) labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as signal amplifiers, and hydroquinone (HQ) was used as an electron mediator. The immunosensor was selective for CA15-3 in human serum and artificial saliva samples, robust, and stable to permit storage at 4 °C for more than 30 days. With its high performance, the immunosensor may be incorporated into future point-of-care (POC) devices to determine CA15-3 in distinct biological fluids, including in blood and saliva samples.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Brazilian agencies: Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES—Finance code 001 and grant number 88887.334689/2019-00), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP—grants: 2019/13514-9, 2018/22214-6, 2019/01777-5), and CNPq.

Funding

This study was supported by the Brazilian agencies: Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES—Finance code 001 and grant number 88887.334689/2019–00), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP—grants: 2019/13514-9, 2018/22214-6, 2019/01777-5), and CNPq.

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Author notes

  1. Thiago S. Martins and José L. Bott-Neto contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil

    Thiago S. Martins & Sergio A. S. Machado

  2. São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil

    José L. Bott-Neto & Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr

Authors
  1. Thiago S. Martins
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  2. José L. Bott-Neto
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  3. Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr
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  4. Sergio A. S. Machado
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Contributions

T. S. Martins and J. L. Bott-Neto authors have contributed equally: investigation, conceptualization, methodology, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. O. N. Oliveira Jr and S. A. S. Machado: funding acquisition, supervision, writing–review and editing.

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Correspondence to José L. Bott-Neto.

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Martins, T.S., Bott-Neto, J.L., Oliveira, O.N. et al. A sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor based on Au-rGO composite for CA15-3 tumor marker detection. Microchim Acta 189, 38 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-021-05145-w

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