Joint Entropy-Assisted Graphene Oxide-Based Multiplexing Biosensing Platform for Simultaneous Detection of Multiple...

Due to the limited clinical utility of individual biomarkers, there is growing recognition of the need for combining multiple biomarkers as a panel to improve the accuracy and efficacy of disease diagnosis and prognosis. The conventional method to detect multiple analyte species is to construct a sensor array, which consists of an array of individual selective probes for different species. In this work, by using cancer biomarker matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and a disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs) as model analytes and functionalized nanographene oxide (nGO) as a sensing element, we developed a multiplexing fluorescence sensor in a nonarray format for simultaneous measurement of the activities of multiple proteases. The constructed nGO-based biosensor was rapid, sensitive, and selective and was also utilized for the successful profiling of ADAMs/MMPs in simulated serum samples. Furthermore, we showed that joint entropy and programming could be utilized to guide experiment design, especially in terms of the selection of a subset of proteases from the entire MMPs/ADAMs family as an appropriate biomarker panel. Our developed nGO-based multiplex sensing platform should find useful application in early cancer detection and diagnosis.