Triple Amplification Ratiometric Electrochemical Aptasensor for CA125 Based on H-Gr/SH-β-CD@PdPtNFs

A triple-amplified and ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor for CA125 was designed based on hemin-graphene/SH-β-cyclodextrin@PdPt nanoflower (H-Gr/SH-β-CD@PdPtNF) composites and an exonuclease I (Exo I)-assisted strategy. In the nanocomposite, hemin acts as an internal reference signal owing to the reversible hemin_ox/hemin_red pair. PdPtNFs can significantly improve the electron transfer rate. SH-β-CD can efficiently enrich quercetin probes through host-guest recognition and increase the second indicator signal. In the presence of CA125, due to the specific binding between the aptamer and CA125, the conformational change of dsDNA (designed by the CA125 aptamer and its complementary DNA) results in the release of quercetin embedded in dsDNA. Subsequently, the free quercetin and DNA fragments are enriched on the H-Gr/SH-β-CD@PdPtNF-modified electrode. Thus, an enhanced oxidation peak from quercetin (I_Q) and a reduced peak from hemin (I_hemin) can indicate the same biological identification event. In addition, the recycling amplification of CA125 by Exo I can effectively assist the increase of the quercetin signal. The value of I_Q/I_hemin is linear with the concentration of CA125 in the range from 6.0 × 10^-4 to 1.0 × 10³ ng/mL, and the limit of detection is 1.4 × 10^-4 ng/mL. The recovery of CA125 in human blood serum samples was from 99.2 to 104.4%. The proposed sensor is sensitive and reliable, which provides an avenue for the development of triple amplification and ratiometric signal strategies for detecting tumor markers in clinical diagnostics.