Polymeric optical fiber biosensor with PAMAM dendrimer-based surface modification and PlGF detection for...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Biosensing
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Background:

• Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a severe pregnancy complication necessitating early detection for improved maternal and neonatal outcomes.
• Current diagnostic methods for PE may lack the speed and affordability required for widespread, on-site screening.
• Placental growth factor (PlGF) is a key blood biomarker for PE diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid, sensitive, and affordable biosensor for detecting placental growth factor (PlGF) for pre-eclampsia (PE) screening.
• To establish a novel surface modification technique for enhanced bioreceptor immobilization on optical fiber probes.
• To validate the performance of the developed biosensor using clinical samples.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of U-bent polymeric optical fiber (POF) sensor probes using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
• Surface modification of POF probes with poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers for enhanced bioreceptor immobilization.
• Development of a plasmonic fiber optic absorbance biosensor (P-FAB) employing a sandwich immunoassay with anti-PlGF antibodies and gold nanoparticle labels.
• Detection of PlGF using the P-FAB strategy with a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.19 pg/mL in buffer and 0.57 pg/mL in diluted serum.

Main Results:

• The novel PAMAM dendrimer modification significantly improved bioreceptor immobilization compared to linear molecules.
• The P-FAB strategy enabled femtomolar concentration detection of PlGF within 30 minutes.
• Clinical sample testing demonstrated high accuracy, reliability, specificity, and sensitivity of the sensor platform for PE diagnosis.

Conclusions:

• The developed plasmonic fiber optic absorbance biosensor (P-FAB) offers a promising, cost-effective solution for early pre-eclampsia (PE) screening.
• The sensor's high sensitivity and rapid detection capabilities facilitate timely intervention, potentially reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
• This technology paves the way for accessible, on-site PE diagnostics.