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Design and Development of Aptamer–Gold Nanoparticle Based Colorimetric Assays for In-the-field Applications
Published on: June 23, 2016
Amplified QCM-D biosensor for protein based on aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles.
Qiang Chen1, Wei Tang, Dingzhong Wang
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
A novel biosensor using aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles enhances protein detection sensitivity by 100-fold. This quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) method offers a promising strategy for detecting proteins like human α-thrombin.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) is a sensitive technique for detecting biomolecular interactions.
- Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) can enhance biosensor performance through signal amplification.
- Aptamers are short DNA or RNA sequences that can bind to specific targets, making them useful in biosensing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a highly sensitive QCM-D biosensor for detecting human α-thrombin.
- To utilize aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles (Apt-GNPs) for signal amplification.
- To demonstrate the dual-signal enhancement of Apt-GNPs on QCM-D sensing for proteins with two binding sites.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of an aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticle (Apt-GNP) modified QCM-D biosensor.
- Immobilization of aptamers on the QCM-D chip surface to capture human α-thrombin.
- On-line detection of captured thrombin using Apt-GNPs to enhance frequency and dissipation signals.
- Confirmation of the sensor surface structure using atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Main Results:
- The Apt-GNP enhanced QCM-D biosensor achieved a detection limit of 0.1 nM for human α-thrombin, a 2-order magnitude improvement over direct assays.
- The biosensor demonstrated good selectivity and repeatability in complex biological matrices.
- The study confirmed the dual-signal enhancement effect of Apt-GNPs on QCM-D sensing for the first time.
Conclusions:
- The developed Apt-GNP/QCM-D biosensor offers a highly sensitive and selective method for detecting human α-thrombin.
- The dual-signal amplification strategy using Apt-GNPs presents a promising approach for protein detection, particularly for targets with multiple binding sites.
- This biosensor design has potential applications in clinical diagnostics and biomedical research.
