Abstract
The development of optical biosensors for the rapid and costless determination of clinical biomarkers is of paramount importance in medicine. Here we report a fast and low-cost biosensor based on a plasmonic D-shaped plastic optical fibre (POF) sensor derivatized with an aptamer specific for the recognition of thrombin, the target marker of blood homeostasis and coagulation cascade. In particular, we designed a functional interface based on a Self Assembled Monolayer (SAM) composed of short Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) chains and biotin-modified PEG thiol in ratio 8:2 mol:mol, these latter serving as baits for the binding of the aptamer through streptavidin-chemistry. The SAM was studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, static contact angle (CA), Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) in POFs, and fluorescence microscopy on gold surface. The optimized SAM composition enabled the immobilization of about 112 ng/cm2 of aptamer. The thrombin detection exploiting POF-Aptasensor occurred in short times (5–10 minutes), the reached Limit of Detection (LOD) was about 1 nM, and the detection range was 1.6–60 nM, indicating the POF-Aptasensor well addresses the needs for a low-cost, simple to use and to realize, rapid, small size and portable diagnostic platform.
Highlights
The development of optical biosensors for the rapid and costless determination of clinical biomarkers is of paramount importance in medicine
The selective aptasensing interface was prepared by modifying the gold with a Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) Self Assembled Monolayer (SAM)[16] so to provide the highest accessibility for the analyte to the aptamer immobilized at the plasmonic surface, while decreasing the non specific adsorption
The protocol for SAM formation was optimized on flat gold surfaces, intended as a model for the gold-plastic optical fibre (POF) platforms
Summary
The development of optical biosensors for the rapid and costless determination of clinical biomarkers is of paramount importance in medicine. We developed an SPR sensing platform for the determination of thrombin (THR), clinical marker of the blood coagulation cascade and homeostasis[10], based on a D-shaped plastic optical fibre (POFs)[9], that provides ease of manipulation, simple fabrication, high sensitivity and competitive costs. The selective aptasensing interface was prepared by modifying the gold with a Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) Self Assembled Monolayer (SAM)[16] so to provide the highest accessibility for the analyte to the aptamer immobilized at the plasmonic surface, while decreasing the non specific adsorption. When mixed PEG-SAMs are used, a better surface control in terms of chemical reactivity has been observed[16,32,33]
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