Drug functionalized organic electromechanical transistor for rapid and sensitive detection of C-reactive protein

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a critical biomarker for inflammation and postoperative recovery monitoring. Organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) plays a key role in CRP detection, however, with a limited sensitivity in physiological environment due to inefficient charge transfer within the Debye length. Here, we introduce rosuvastatin (RSV) drug as a novel recognition element for CRP detection in OECT biosensors. The grafted RSV molecules can inherently interact with CRP through electrostatic bonding interaction, contributing to a direct charge transfer between the captured CRP and the device within the Debye length limitation. Following this, the OECT biosensor exhibits a broad range (10^-10 to 10^-4 g/mL) for CRP quantification, with a short response time of 2 min. Moreover, the devices can realize selective CRP recognition in serum, demonstrating the great potential of drug receptors in electronic biosensor functionalization. This strategy paves a new way for developing ultrasensitive OECT biosensors towards accurate and reliable in-situ biomarker monitoring for convenient disease diagnose.