Concentrations of disease biomarkers and their changes are crucial for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases, so detecting and capturing small changes in biomarkers is especially important. This study demonstrates a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active magnetic immunosensor using a signal amplification strategy for the ultrasensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The sensor consists of a biotin-modified aptamer (B-Apt) and a PSA antibody (Ab) labeled on magnetic beads (MBs), which can immobilize and anchor the target PSA when it is present. After sequential addition of streptavidin and a signal probe, the generated streptavidin-biotin complex reacts to form a three-dimensional network, thereby increasing the number of signal molecules to achieve signal amplification, with the detection limit of 0.87 pg/mL. In addition, this method was also performed to detect PSA in human serum samples. It is believed that this method provides a more sensitive tool for detecting PSA or other biomarkers in clinical samples.
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