Label-free DNA electrochemical sensor based on a PNA-functionalized conductive polymer

An electrochemical hybridization biosensor based on peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe is presented. PNA were attached covalently onto a quinone-based electroactive polymer. Changes in flexibility of the PNA probe strand upon hybridization generates electrochemical changes at the polymer-solution interface. A reagentless and direct electrochemical detection was obtained by detection of the electrochemical changes using square wave voltammetry (SWV). An increase in the peak current of quinone was observed upon hybridization of probe on the target, whereas no change is observed with non-complementary sequence. In addition, the biosensor is highly selective to effectively discriminate a single mismatch on the target sequence. The sensitivity is also presented and discussed.