Electrochemical aptasensor for analyzing alpha-fetoprotein using RGO-CS-Fc nanocomposites integrated with gold-platinum nanoparticles

• Published in: Analytical methods 2020-11, Vol.12 (41), p.4956-4966
• Main Authors: Li, Wenzhan, Chen, Min, Liang, Jintao, Lu, Chunting, Zhang, Min, Hu, Fangrong, Zhou, Zhide, Li, Guiyin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alpha-Fetoproteins; Aptamers; Aptamers, Nucleotide; Biosensing Techniques; Chitosan; Conjugation; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrochemistry; Electron transfer; Gold; Graphene; Graphite; Humans; Metal Nanoparticles; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Photoelectron spectroscopy; Photoelectrons; Platinum; Raman spectroscopy; Reproducibility of Results; Scanning electron microscopy; Selectivity; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; α-Fetoprotein
• ISSN: 1759-9660; 1759-9679
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ay01465f

Herein, a label-free electrochemical aptasensor for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) analysis was established. The AFP aptamer (AFP-Apt), as the recognition molecule, was immobilized on the surface of a screen-printed carbon electrode, which was modified by gold-platinum metallic nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide-chitosan-ferrocene nanohybrids (Au-Pt NPs/RGO-CS-Fc), to build the AFP electrochemical aptasensor. The construction process of the aptasensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. With the addition of AFP, the formation of the AFP-aptamer conjugation blocked the electron transfer reaction, reducing the differential pulse voltammetric responses of the current of Fc in the RGO-CS-Fc nanohybrids. By optimizing the experimental parameters, AFP could be detected with the dynamic concentration range of 0.001 to 10.0 μg mL −1 and with a detection limit of 0.3013 ng mL −1 . In addition, the approach was manifested to have good selectivity, reproducibility, and stability. The fabricated aptasensor had a good recovery rate of 102.36% to 118.09% in real human serum samples. This work demonstrates that the electrochemical aptasensor is a useful tool for analyzing AFP inexpensively, rapidly, and accurately. Electrochemical aptasensor for analyzing AFP using RGO-CS-Fc nanocomposites integrated with gold-platinum nanoparticles and AFP aptamer has been developed. The AFP aptasensor showed satisfactory selectivity, reproducibility and stability.