Enhanced electrochemical detection of DNA hybridization with carbon nanotube modified paste electrode

A novel electrochemical genesensor using twice hybridization enhancement of gold nanoparticles based on carbon paste modified electrode is described. The carbon nanotube modified carbon paste electrode (CNTPE) and mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 modified carbon paste electrode (MSCPE) were investigated. The assay relies on the immobilization of streptavidin-biotin labeled target oligonucleotides onto the electrode surface and its hybridization to the gold nanoparticle-labeled DNA probe. After twice hybridization enhanced connection of gold nanoparticles to the hybridized system, the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) signal of total gold nanoparticles was monitored. It was found that the adsorption of oligonucleotide and hybridized DPV signal on CNTPE were both enhanced in comparison with that of pure carbon paste electrode (CPE). But this trend was reverse on MSCPE. The DPV detection of twice hybridized gold nanoparticles indicated that the sensitivity of the genesensor enhanced about one order of magnitude compared with one-layer hybridization. One-base mismatched DNA and complementary DNA could be distinguished clearly. However, no distinct advantage of MSCPE over CPE was found.