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A competitive-type photoelectrochemical aptasensor for 17 beta-estradiol detection in microfluidic devices based on a novel Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposite

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Abstract

A competitive-type photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor coupled with a novel Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposite was designed for the detection of 17β-estradiol (E2) in microfluidic devices. The designed Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposites exhibit high photoelectrochemical activity owing to the good matching of cascade band-edge and the efficient separation of photo-generated e−/h+ pairs derived from the Cd-doped defects in the energy level. The Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposites were loaded into carbon paste electrodes (CPEs) to immobilize complementary DNA (cDNA) and estradiol aptamer probe DNA (E2-Apt), forming a double-strand DNA structure on the CPE surface. As the target E2 interacts with the double-strand DNA, E2-Apt is sensitively released from the CPE, subsequently increasing the photocurrent intensity due to the reduced steric hindrance of the electrode surface. The competitive-type sensing mechanism, combined with high PEC activity of the Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposites, contributed to the rapid and sensitive detection of E2 in a “signal on” manner. Under the optimized conditions, the PEC aptasensor exhibited a linear range from 1.0 × 10−13 mol L−1 to 3.2 × 10−6 mol L−1 and a detection limit of 1.2 × 10−14 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). Moreover, the integration of microfluidic device with smartphone controlled portable electrochemical workstation enables the on-site detection of E2. The small sample volume (10 µL) and short analysis time (40 min) demonstrated the great potential of this strategy for E2 detection in rat serum and river water. With these advantages, the PEC aptasensor can be utilized for point-of-care testing (POCT) in both clinical and environmental applications.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81503037), Basic research projects of Liaoning Provincial Department of Education (No. LJKMZ20221355), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (2021-MS-211), and Career Development Support Plan for Young and Middle-aged Teachers in Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (No. ZQN202301). Also, the authors would like to thank Shiyanjia Lab (www.shiyanjia.com/) for the support of relevant analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, PR China

    Yonglun Zhang, Shihua Zhang, Zijing Xu, Jiaxing Zhang, Zhuangzhuang Qu & Weilu Liu

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Contributions

Yonglun Zhang: conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. Shihua Zhang: formal analysis, investigation, validation. Zijing Xu: formal analysis, investigation. Jiaxing Zhang:  writing—review and editing. Zhuangzhuang Qu: resources. Weilu Liu: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, project administration, supervision

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Correspondence to Weilu Liu.

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Animal experiments were conducted according to the guidelines formulated by the Ethics Committee of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (SYPU-IACUC-2024-0311-028).

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Zhang, Y., Zhang, S., Xu, Z. et al. A competitive-type photoelectrochemical aptasensor for 17 beta-estradiol detection in microfluidic devices based on a novel Au@Cd:SnO2/SnS2 nanocomposite. Microchim Acta 191, 383 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-024-06478-y

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