Microchimica Acta

, Volume 184, Issue 9, pp 3487–3496 | Cite as

Voltammetric aptamer based detection of HepG2 tumor cells by using an indium tin oxide electrode array and multifunctional nanoprobes

Original Paper
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Accepted:

Abstract

The authors describe a method for the detection and determination of human liver cancer cells in blood. The cytosensing system consists of a microfabricated chip-based electrochemical aptasensor that contains multifunctional hybrid electrochemical nanoprobes and an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode array interface functionalized with cell-targeting aptamer and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The thiolated cell targeting aptamer (referred to as TLS11a) was immobilized on the ITO electrode/AuNPs for specific adhesion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2). The hybrid nanoprobe system consists of hydroquinone (HQ) as an electrochemical probe, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and an aptamer/hemin/G-quadruplex aggregate that was immobilized on gold/palladium-functionalized ZnO nanorods (ZnO@Au-Pd). The nanoprobes are capable of amplifying the voltammetric signal and capturing the target cells. Best operated at around −90 mV (vs Ag/AgCl), the electrode has a linear response that covers the 10^2 to 10^7 HepG2 cells per mL concentration range, with a 10 cell per mL detection limit. Captured cells may be released from the electrode via electrochemical desorption to break the Au-S bonds.

Graphical abstract

Schematic of an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode array-based electrochemical aptamer cytosensor for the specific capture, sensitive detection and controlled release of HepG2 cancer cells. AuNP: gold nanoparticle; HQ: hydroquinone; HRP: horseradish peroxidase.

Keywords

Cytosensor Electrochemical detection Liver cancer cells G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme Horseradish peroxidase Signal amplification 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21375152 and 81601571), Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2016B030303002), Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. A2017033), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 16ykzd13) and a Start-up Grant from Sun Yat-Sen University.

Compliance with ethical standards

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Supplementary material

604_2017_2376_MOESM1_ESM.docx (765 kb)
ESM 1 (DOCX 764 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Pharmaceutical SciencesSun Yat-Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina

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