Detection of MUC-1 Protein and MCF-7 Cells Based on Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer from Quantum Dots to Graphene Oxide

Abstract

In this work, an effective sensing platform based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from quantum dots (QDs) to graphene oxide (GO) was developed. Firstly, the aptamer of MUC-1 protein was coupled to CdTe QDs. The interactions between MUC-1 aptamer and GO made CdTe QDs close to GO, which quenched the fluorescence of QDs because of the FRET. However, the stronger interaction between MUC-1 and aptamer weakened the interaction between aptamer and GO, which led to the release of CdTe QDs from GO and thus, the recovery of QDs fluorescence. Based on this, the method was used to detect MUC-1. This approach was successfully extended to detect MCF-7 cells through its interaction with MUC-1 aptamer. The detection limits of MUC-1 and MCF-7 cells were 16 nM and 36 cells/mL, respectively. The method could be extended for detection of other biomolecules by substituting aptamer and the corresponding target.