Electrochemical DNA Sensing at Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes Chemically Assembled on Gold Surfaces

Label-Free Telomerase Activity Detection via Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

In the last decade, researchers have been searching for innovative platforms, methods, and techniques able to address recurring problems with the current cancer detection methods. Early disease detection, fast results, point-of-care sensing, and cost are among the most prevalent issues that need further exploration in this field. Herein, studies are focused on overcoming these problems by developing an electrochemical device able to detect telomerase as a cancer biomarker. Electrochemical platforms and techniques are more appealing for cancer detection, offering lower costs than the established cancer detection methods, high sensitivity inherent to the technique, rapid signal processing, and their capacity of being miniaturized. Therefore, Au interdigital electrodes and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to detect telomerase activity in acute T cell leukemia. Different cancer cell concentrations were evaluated, and a detection limit of 1.9 × 10⁵ cells/mL was obtained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to characterize the telomerase substrate (TS) DNA probe self-assembled monolayer on gold electrode surfaces. Atomic force microscopy displayed three-dimensional images of the surface to establish a height difference of 9.0 nm between the bare electrode and TS-modified Au electrodes. The TS probe is rich in guanines, thus forming secondary structures known as G-quadruplex that can be triggered with a fluorescence probe. Confocal microscopy fluorescence images showed the formation of DNA G-quadruplex because of TS elongation by telomerase on the Au electrode surface. Moreover, electrodes exposed to telomerase containing 2',3'-dideoxyguanosine-5'-triphosphate (ddGTP) did not exhibit high fluorescence, as ddGTP is a telomerase inhibitor, thus making this device suitable for telomerase inhibitors capacity studies. The electrochemical method and Au microchip device may be developed as a biosensor for a point-of-care medical device.

Binding Kinetics of Methylene Blue on Monolayer Graphene Investigated by Multiparameter Surface Plasmon Resonance

In this paper, we study the interaction of a small dye molecule, namely, methylene blue (MB) with graphene surfaces using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). We show that by utilizing all of the parameters of the SPR angular dip and exploiting the fact that MB absorbs light at the operating wavelength, it is possible to detect the binding of small molecules that would otherwise not give a significant signal. The binding of MB to unmodified graphene is found to be stronger than that for gold. By studying the interaction at modified surfaces, we demonstrate that electrostatic effects play a dominant role in the binding of MB on to graphene. Furthermore, following the binding kinetics at various concentrations allows us to estimate apparent equilibrium binding and rate constants for the interaction of MB with graphene.

Electrochemical paper-based peptide nucleic acid biosensor for detecting human papillomavirus

A novel paper-based electrochemical biosensor was developed using an anthraquinone-labeled pyrrolidinyl peptide nucleic acid (acpcPNA) probe (AQ-PNA) and graphene-polyaniline (G-PANI) modified electrode to detect human papillomavirus (HPV). An inkjet printing technique was employed to prepare the paper-based G-PANI-modified working electrode. The AQ-PNA probe baring a negatively charged amino acid at the N-terminus was immobilized onto the electrode surface through electrostatic attraction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to verify the AQ-PNA immobilization. The paper-based electrochemical DNA biosensor was used to detect a synthetic 14-base oligonucleotide target with a sequence corresponding to human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 DNA by measuring the electrochemical signal response of the AQ label using square-wave voltammetry before and after hybridization. It was determined that the current signal significantly decreased after the addition of target DNA. This phenomenon is explained by the rigidity of PNA-DNA duplexes, which obstructs the accessibility of electron transfer from the AQ label to the electrode surface. Under optimal conditions, the detection limit of HPV type 16 DNA was found to be 2.3 nM with a linear range of 10-200 nM. The performance of this biosensor on real DNA samples was tested with the detection of PCR-amplified DNA samples from the SiHa cell line. The new method employs an inexpensive and disposable device, which easily incinerated after use and is promising for the screening and monitoring of the amount of HPV-DNA type 16 to identify the primary stages of cervical cancer.

Water transport control in carbon nanotube arrays

Based on a recent scaling law of the water mobility under nanoconfined conditions, we envision novel strategies for precise modulation of water diffusion within membranes made of carbon nanotube arrays (CNAs). In a first approach, the water diffusion coefficient D may be tuned by finely controlling the size distribution of the pore size. In the second approach, D can be varied at will by means of externally induced electrostatic fields. Starting from the latter strategy, switchable molecular sieves are proposed, where membranes are properly designed with sieving and permeation features that can be dynamically activated/deactivated. Areas where a precise control of water transport properties is beneficial range from energy and environmental engineering up to nanomedicine.

The new age of carbon nanotubes: an updated review of functionalized carbon nanotubes in electrochemical sensors

Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), they have drawn considerable research attention and have shown great potential application in many fields due to their unique structural, mechanical, and electronic properties. However, their native insolubility severely holds back the process of application. In order to overcome this disadvantage and broaden the scope of their application, chemical functionalization of CNTs has attracted great interest over the past several decades and produced various novel hybrid materials with specific applications. Notably, the rapid development of functionalized CNTs used as electrochemical sensors has been successfully witnessed. In this featured article, the recent progress of electrochemical sensors based on functionalized CNTs is discussed and classified according to modifiers covering organic (oxygen functional groups, small organic molecules, polymers, DNA, protein, etc.), inorganic (metal nanoparticles, metal oxide, etc.) and organic-inorganic hybrids. By employing some representative examples, it will be demonstrated that functionalized CNTs as templates, carriers, immobilizers and transducers are promising for the construction of electrochemical sensors.