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Lee Y, Buchheim J, Hellenkamp B, Lynall D, Yang K, Young EF, Penkov B, Sia S, Stojanovic MN, Shepard KL. Carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors for resolving single-molecule aptamer-ligand binding kinetics. NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY 2024; 19:660-667. [PMID: 38233588 PMCID: PMC11229667 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01591-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Small molecules such as neurotransmitters are critical for biochemical functions in living systems. While conventional ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and mass spectrometry lack portability and are unsuitable for time-resolved measurements in situ, techniques such as amperometry and traditional field-effect detection require a large ensemble of molecules to reach detectable signal levels. Here we demonstrate the potential of carbon-nanotube-based single-molecule field-effect transistors (smFETs), which can detect the charge on a single molecule, as a new platform for recognizing and assaying small molecules. smFETs are formed by the covalent attachment of a probe molecule, in our case a DNA aptamer, to a carbon nanotube. Conformation changes on binding are manifest as discrete changes in the nanotube electrical conductance. By monitoring the kinetics of conformational changes in a binding aptamer, we show that smFETs can detect and quantify serotonin at the single-molecule level, providing unique insights into the dynamics of the aptamer-ligand system. In particular, we show the involvement of G-quadruplex formation and the disruption of the native hairpin structure in the conformational changes of the serotonin-aptamer complex. The smFET is a label-free approach to analysing molecular interactions at the single-molecule level with high temporal resolution, providing additional insights into complex biological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoonhee Lee
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Electronics & Information System, ICT Research Institute, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Jakob Buchheim
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Institute of Quantum Technologies, Ulm, Germany
| | - Björn Hellenkamp
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Lynall
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kyungae Yang
- Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erik F Young
- Quicksilver Biosciences, Inc., New York, NY, USA
| | - Boyan Penkov
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Samuel Sia
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Kenneth L Shepard
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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2
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Ushiba S, Nakano T, Shinagawa A, Miyakawa N, Kato T, Yofu K, Ono T, Kanai Y, Tani S, Kimura M, Matsumoto K. Biosensing with Surface-Charge-Modulated Graphene Field-Effect Transistors beyond Nonlinear Electrolytic Screening. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:49270-49277. [PMID: 38162780 PMCID: PMC10753719 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c07650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
In field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors, charge screening in electrolyte solutions limits the sensitivity, thereby restricting the applicability of FET sensors. This is particularly pronounced in graphene FET (GFET) biosensors, where the bare graphene surface possesses a strongly negative charge, which impedes the high sensitivity of GFETs owing to nonlinear electrolytic screening at the interfaces between graphene and liquid. In this study, we counteracted the negative surface charge of graphene by decorating positively charged compounds and demonstrated the sensing of C-reactive protein (CRP) with surface-charge-modulated GFETs (SCM-GFETs). We integrated multiple SCM-GFETs with anti-CRP antibodies and nonfunctionalized GFETs into a chip and measured differentials to eliminate background changes to improve measurement reliability. The FET response corresponded to the fluorescence images, which visualized the specific adsorption of CRP. The estimated dissociation constant was consistent with previously reported values; this supports the conclusion that the results are attributed to specific adsorption. Conversely, the signal in GFETs without decoration was obscured by noise because of nonlinear electrolytic screening, further emphasizing the significance of surface-charge modulation. The limit of detection of the system was determined to be 2.9 nM. This value has the potential to be improved through further optimization of the surface charges to align with specific applications. Our devices effectively circumvent nonlinear electrolytic screening, opening the door for further advancements in GFET biosensor technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shota Ushiba
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Tomomi Nakano
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Ayumi Shinagawa
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Naruto Miyakawa
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Tadashi Kato
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Katsuyuki Yofu
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Takao Ono
- Osaka
University, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
| | - Yasushi Kanai
- International
Center for Synchrotron Radiation Innovation Smart, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Tani
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
| | - Masahiko Kimura
- Murata
Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 1-10-1 Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto 617-8555, Japan
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3
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Yin T, Xu L, Gil B, Merali N, Sokolikova MS, Gaboriau DCA, Liu DSK, Muhammad Mustafa AN, Alodan S, Chen M, Txoperena O, Arrastua M, Gomez JM, Ontoso N, Elicegui M, Torres E, Li D, Mattevi C, Frampton AE, Jiao LR, Ramadan S, Klein N. Graphene Sensor Arrays for Rapid and Accurate Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Exosomes in Patients' Blood Plasma Samples. ACS NANO 2023; 17:14619-14631. [PMID: 37470391 PMCID: PMC10416564 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c01812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Biosensors based on graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) have the potential to enable the development of point-of-care diagnostic tools for early stage disease detection. However, issues with reproducibility and manufacturing yields of graphene sensors, but also with Debye screening and unwanted detection of nonspecific species, have prevented the wider clinical use of graphene technology. Here, we demonstrate that our wafer-scalable GFETs array platform enables meaningful clinical results. As a case study of high clinical relevance, we demonstrate an accurate and robust portable GFET array biosensor platform for the detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in patients' plasma through specific exosomes (GPC-1 expression) within 45 min. In order to facilitate reproducible detection in blood plasma, we optimized the analytical performance of GFET biosensors via the application of an internal control channel and the development of an optimized test protocol. Based on samples from 18 PDAC patients and 8 healthy controls, the GFET biosensor arrays could accurately discriminate between the two groups while being able to detect early cancer stages including stages 1 and 2. Furthermore, we confirmed the higher expression of GPC-1 and found that the concentration in PDAC plasma was on average more than 1 order of magnitude higher than in healthy samples. We found that these characteristics of GPC-1 cancerous exosomes are responsible for an increase in the number of target exosomes on the surface of graphene, leading to an improved signal response of the GFET biosensors. This GFET biosensor platform holds great promise for the development of an accurate tool for the rapid diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyi Yin
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Lizhou Xu
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
- ZJU-Hangzhou
Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 311200, China
| | - Bruno Gil
- Hamlyn
Centre, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Nabeel Merali
- Oncology
Section, Surrey Cancer Research Institute, Department of Clinical
and Experimental Medicine, FHMS, University
of Surrey, The Leggett Building, Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford GU2 7WG, U.K.
- HPB
Surgical Unit, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XX, U.K.
- Minimal Access
Therapy Training Unit (MATTU), University
of Surrey, The Leggett
Building, Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford GU2 7WG, U.K.
| | | | - David C. A. Gaboriau
- Facility
for Imaging By Light Microscopy, Imperial
College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Daniel S. K. Liu
- Department
of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College
London, Hammersmith Hospital
Campus, London W12 0NN, U.K.
- HPB
Surgical Unit, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Hammersmith
Hospital, London W12 0HS, U.K.
| | - Ahmad Nizamuddin Muhammad Mustafa
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
- FTKEE,
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
| | - Sarah Alodan
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Michael Chen
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Oihana Txoperena
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - María Arrastua
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - Juan Manuel Gomez
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - Nerea Ontoso
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - Marta Elicegui
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - Elias Torres
- Graphenea Semiconductor, Paseo Mikeletegi 83, San Sebastián ES 20009, Spain
| | - Danyang Li
- Research
Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Cecilia Mattevi
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Adam E. Frampton
- Oncology
Section, Surrey Cancer Research Institute, Department of Clinical
and Experimental Medicine, FHMS, University
of Surrey, The Leggett Building, Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford GU2 7WG, U.K.
- HPB
Surgical Unit, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XX, U.K.
- Minimal Access
Therapy Training Unit (MATTU), University
of Surrey, The Leggett
Building, Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford GU2 7WG, U.K.
- Department
of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College
London, Hammersmith Hospital
Campus, London W12 0NN, U.K.
| | - Long R. Jiao
- Department
of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College
London, Hammersmith Hospital
Campus, London W12 0NN, U.K.
| | - Sami Ramadan
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
| | - Norbert Klein
- Department
of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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4
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Oka Y, Ushiba S, Miyakawa N, Nishio M, Ono T, Kanai Y, Watanabe Y, Tani S, Kimura M, Matsumoto K. Ionic strength-sensitive and pH-insensitive interactions between C-reactive protein (CRP) and an anti-CRP antibody. Biophys Physicobiol 2022; 19:e190003. [PMID: 35958119 PMCID: PMC8926308 DOI: 10.2142/biophysico.bppb-v19.0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
C-reactive protein (CRP) is an important biomarker of infection and inflammation, as CRP is one of the most prominent acute-phase proteins. CRP is usually detected using anti-CRP antibodies (Abs), where the intermolecular interactions between CRP and the anti-CRP Ab are largely affected by the pH and ionic strength of environmental solutions. Therefore, it is important to understand the environmental effects of CRP–anti-CRP Ab interactions when designing highly sensitive biosensors. Here, we investigated the efficiency of fluorescently labeled CRP–anti-CRP monoclonal antibody (mAb) interactions at different pHs and ionic strengths. Our results indicate that the affinity was insensitive to pH changes in the range of 5.9 to 8.1, while it was significantly sensitive to ionic strength changes. The binding affinity decreased by 55% at an ionic strength of 1.6 mM, when compared to that under a physiological condition (~150 mM). Based on the isoelectric focusing results, both the labeled CRP and anti-CRP mAb were negatively charged in the studied pH range, which rendered the system insensitive to pH changes, but sensitive to ionic strength changes. The decreased ionic strength led to a significant enhancement of the repulsive force between CRP and the anti-CRP mAb. Although the versality of the findings is not fully studied yet, the results provide insights into designing highly sensitive CRP sensors, especially field-effect transistor-based sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Yohei Watanabe
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
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