Universal Biotin-PEG-Linked Gold Nanoparticle Probes for the Simultaneous Detection of Nucleic Acids and Proteins

Novel biotin-polyethylene glycol (biotin-PEG) gold nanoparticle probes have been synthesized and used as universal constructs for the detection of protein (prostate-specific antigen, PSA) and nucleic acid targets (microRNAs) from a single sample. Microarray assays based upon these probes enabled sensitive detection of biomarker targets (50 fM for nucleic acid targets and 1 pg/μL for the PSA target). Ways of detecting biomarkers, including nucleic acids and proteins, are necessary for the clinical diagnosis of many diseases, but currently available diagnostic platforms rely primarily on the independent detection of proteins or nucleic acids. In addition to the economic benefits associated with the use of a single platform to detect both classes of analytes, studies have shown that the simultaneous identification of multiple classes of biomarkers in the same sample could be useful for the detection and management of early stage diseases, especially when sample amounts are limited. Therefore, these new probes and the assays based upon them open the door for high-sensitivity combination-target assays for studying and tracking biological pathways and diseases.