Development and benchtop testing of an aptamer-based sweat sensor for CRP detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Biosensor Technology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• C-reactive protein (CRP) is a key inflammatory biomarker.
• Current CRP detection methods can be invasive or lack real-time monitoring capabilities.
• Aptamers offer advantages over antibodies in biosensor applications due to their stability and specificity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an aptamer-based flexible sensor for non-invasive C-reactive protein (CRP) detection in human sweat.
• To assess the sensor's performance in terms of sensitivity, dynamic range, and limit of quantification.
• To evaluate the sensor's specificity and accuracy in real human sweat samples.

Main Methods:

• Development of a flexible sensor utilizing aptamers for CRP recognition.
• Benchtop validation using phosphate buffer solution (PBS) and human sweat samples.
• Electrochemical detection measuring impedance changes upon CRP binding to aptamers.

Main Results:

• The sensor demonstrated a dynamic range of 0.5–8.0 ng/mL with a sensitivity of 0.22 ng/mL in PBS.
• The limit of quantification (LOQ) in PBS was 0.65 ng/mL.
• In human sweat, the sensor achieved limits of detection and quantification of 1.20 ng/mL and 3.60 ng/mL, respectively, with high accuracy in ~3 minutes.

Conclusions:

• The aptamer-based flexible sensor enables accurate and rapid non-invasive detection of CRP in human sweat.
• The sensor exhibits good specificity, showing no significant interference from other inflammatory biomarkers.
• This technology holds promise for continuous monitoring of inflammatory conditions through sweat analysis.