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An electrochemical aptamer-based assay for femtomolar determination of insulin using a screen printed electrode modified with mesoporous carbon and 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonate

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Abstract

The authors describe an electrochemical method for aptamer-based determination of insulin at femtomolar concentrations. The surface of a screen printed electrode was modified with ordered mesoporous carbon that was chemically modified with 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonate (TPS). The amino-terminated aptamer was then covalently linked to TPS via reactive sulfonyl chloride groups. Subsequently, the redox probe Methylene Blue (MB) was interacted into the aptamer. The MB-modified binds to insulin and this results in the release of MB and a decreased signal as obtained by differential pulse voltammetry, best at a working voltage of −0.3 V (versus silver pseudo-reference electrode). Insulin can be quantified by this method in the 1.0 fM to 10.0 pM concentration range, with a 0.18 fM limit of detection (at 3σ/slope). The assay was applied to the determination of insulin in spiked human serum samples. The method is highly sensitive, selective, stable, and has a wide analytical range.

The surface of a screen printed electrode was modified with ordered mesoporous carbon-1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonate. The amino-terminated aptamer was then linked to the 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonate. Then, the Methylene Blue was interacted into the aptamer. The modified electrode was applied to the determination of insulin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nano Drug Delivery Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 6714967346, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi

  2. Research Center for Science and Technology in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1419733131, Tehran, Iran

    Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi, Reza Saber & Saeed Sarkar

  3. Department of Chemistry, Razi University, P.O. Box 6714967346, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mojtaba Shamsipur

  4. School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1417755469, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Saber

  5. Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1417613151, Tehran, Iran

    Saeed Sarkar

  6. Department of Microbial Biotechnology, School of Biology and center of excellence in phylogeny living organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 41556455, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Besharati

  7. Microbial technology and products (MTP) research center, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 1417466191, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Besharati

Authors
  1. Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi
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  2. Mojtaba Shamsipur
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  3. Reza Saber
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  4. Saeed Sarkar
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  5. Maryam Besharati
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi or Mojtaba Shamsipur.

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Amouzadeh Tabrizi, M., Shamsipur, M., Saber, R. et al. An electrochemical aptamer-based assay for femtomolar determination of insulin using a screen printed electrode modified with mesoporous carbon and 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonate. Microchim Acta 185, 59 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2570-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2570-z

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