Peptide decorated gold nanoparticle/carbon nanotube electrochemical sensor for ultrasensitive detection of matrix metalloproteinase-7

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2020.128789Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is a proteolytic enzyme overexpressed in different pathological conditions.

  • Enzymatic reaction degrading polypeptides immobilized on a nanocomposite electrode is used to detect MMP-7 activity.

  • MMP-7 detection can be carried out in a complex medium such as urine or human serum.

Abstract

Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is a proteolytic enzyme overexpressed in different pathological conditions, including cancer, infection, and cardiovascular diseases, and is a relevant diagnostic biomarker and potential drug target. Here we demonstrate rapid and selective detection of MMP-7 with a limit-of-detection of 6 pg/mL and a dynamic range from 1 × 10−2 to 1 × 103 ng/mL using a peptide decorated gold nanoparticle/carbon nanotube electrochemical sensor. The sensor could be operated in diluted human serum and synthetic urine, with high specificity towards MMP-7. Moreover, the integration of nanomaterials in the sensing electrode significantly increased the signal-to-background ratio and strongly improved the stability of the sensor when compared to a conventional gold electrode. The simple and cost-effective fabrication and the ease of use make this sensor a very promising protease detection device for diagnostics and drug development.

Keywords

Biosensor
Carbon nanotubes
Gold nanoparticles
Peptide
MMP-7
Gold electrode
Differential pulse voltammetry

Cited by (0)

Quentin Palomar has joined the group “Biosystèmes Electrochimiques & Analytiques” (BEA) headed by Dr. Serge Cosnier at the DCM unit of the University of Grenoble as a PhD student in 2014. In 2017, he completed his Ph.D. in biosensor design entitled: Integration of nanostructured materials in the design and realization of label-free biosensors for detection of targets of interest. In 2018, he joined Professor Zhen Zhang's group as a postdoctoral researcher. His current work focuses on the design of biosensors based on silicon nanowire and on electrochemical detection of biomolecules.

XingXing Xu started as a PhD student in Uppsala University in 2015 and is now part of Professor Zhen Zhang group as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on the study of electrochemical phenomena, the design and realization of electrochemical biosensors and the study of surface as well as the fabrication of nanostructures.

Robert Selegård is an assistant professor at the University of Linköping and more particularly in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM). His research is primarily focused on the use and development of peptides for various applications, including biosensors.

Daniel Aili research interests involve design and development of molecules, soft materials and hybrid nanoscale components and devices for a wide range of applications in biomedicine and molecular biology; including diagnostics, biosensors, drug delivery and regenerative medicine. He has also large interest in molecular self-assembly an in fundamental self-assembly processes, in oder to develop bioresponsive and biointeractive materials and devices with different compositions, nanostructures, and functions.

Prof. Zhen Zhang is currently a professor in electronics at the Angstrom laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden and an adjunct researcher with IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY. Before joining Uppsala University as a tenure track assistant professor in Aug. 2013, he was a postdoctoral research fellow (2008–2010) then a Research Staff Member (2010−2013) at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D degree from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden in 2008. He got the M.Sc degree at Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003 and the B.Sc. degree at University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2000.