Multi-marker diagnosis method for early Hepatocellular Carcinoma based on surface plasmon resonance

Early diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is an important means to raise the survival rate of patients. Multi-marker combined detection is a powerful tool of early HCC diagnosis. Traditional detection methods are not effective and accurate because it is difficult to achieve combined detection of multiple markers. In this paper, we selected Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) and miRNA-125b as the combined detection markers to improve the simultaneously diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. The anti-AFP monoclonal antibody and the DNA probes paired with the miRNA-125b were modified on the surface of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor respectively to specifically recognize AFP and miRNA-125b in serum. In order to enhance the SPR response signal and detection sensitivity, Double Antibody Sandwich Method (DASM) and S9.6 antibody enhanced method were applied to achieve low detection limit of the two markers. Experimental results showed that AFP (25-400 ng/mL) was accurately detected by DASM and the detection limit of miRNA-125b by S9.6 antibody enhanced method reached 123.044 pM. These results verified the feasibility of the multi-marker detection method in early diagnosis of HCC.