Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3M2.
Acc Chem Res. 2014 Aug 19;47(8):2417-25. doi: 10.1021/ar500130m. Epub 2014 Jun 25.
Electrochemical sensors have the potential to achieve sensitive, specific, and low-cost detection of biomolecules--a capability that is ever more relevant to the diagnosis and monitored treatment of disease. The development of devices for clinical diagnostics based on electrochemical detection could provide a powerful solution for the routine use of biomarkers in patient treatment and monitoring and may overcome the many issues created by current methods, including the long sample-to-answer times, high cost, and limited prospects for lab-free use of traditional polymerase chain reaction, microarrays, and gene-sequencing technologies. In this Account, we summarize the advances in electrochemical biomolecular detection, focusing on a new and integrated platform that exploits the bottom-up fabrication of multiplexed electrochemical sensors composed of electrodeposited noble metals. We trace the evolution of these sensors from gold nanoelectrode ensembles to nanostructured microelectrodes (NMEs) and discuss the effects of surface morphology and size on assay performance. The development of a novel electrocatalytic assay based on Ru(3+) adsorption and Fe(3+) amplification at the electrode surface as a means to enable ultrasensitive analyte detection is discussed. Electrochemical measurements of changes in hybridization events at the electrode surface are performed using a simple potentiostat, which enables integration into a portable, cost-effective device. We summarize the strategies for proximal sample processing and detection in addition to those that enable high degrees of sensor multiplexing capable of measuring 100 different analytes on a single chip. By evaluating the cost and performance of various sensor substrates, we explore the development of practical lab-on-a-chip prototype devices. By functionalizing the NMEs with capture probes specific to nucleic acid, small molecule, and protein targets, we can successfully detect a wide variety of analytes at clinically relevant concentrations and speeds. Using this platform, we have achieved attomolar detection levels of nucleic acids with overall assay times as short as 2 min. We also describe the adaptation of the sensing platform to allow for the measurement of uncharged analytes--a challenge for reporter systems that rely on the charge of an analyte. Furthermore, the capabilities of this system have been applied to address the many current and important clinical challenges involving the detection of pathogenic species, including both bacterial and viral infections and cancer biomarkers. This novel electrochemical platform, which achieves large molecular-to-electrical amplification by means of its unique redox-cycling readout strategy combined with rapid and efficient analyte capture that is aided by nanostructured microelectrodes, achieves excellent specificity and sensitivity in clinical samples in which analytes are present at low concentrations in complex matrices.
电化学传感器具有实现生物分子灵敏、特异和低成本检测的潜力,这一能力对于疾病的诊断和监测治疗越来越重要。基于电化学检测的临床诊断设备的开发可为生物标志物在患者治疗和监测中的常规应用提供有力的解决方案,并可能克服当前方法所带来的许多问题,包括漫长的样本到答案的时间、高成本以及对传统聚合酶链反应、微阵列和基因测序技术的实验室免费使用的有限前景。在本报告中,我们总结了电化学生物分子检测的进展,重点介绍了一种新的集成平台,该平台利用自下而上制造由电沉积贵金属组成的多路复用电化学传感器。我们追溯了这些传感器从金纳米电极组合到纳米结构微电极 (NME) 的发展,并讨论了表面形态和尺寸对分析性能的影响。讨论了基于 Ru(3+) 在电极表面吸附和 Fe(3+) 放大的新型电催化测定法的开发,作为实现超灵敏分析物检测的手段。使用简单的电位计进行电化学测量,以检测电极表面杂交事件的变化,这使得该方法能够集成到便携式、经济高效的设备中。我们总结了近端样品处理和检测的策略,以及那些能够实现单个芯片上测量 100 种不同分析物的高程度传感器多路复用的策略。通过评估各种传感器基底的成本和性能,我们探讨了实用的片上实验室原型设备的开发。通过将 NME 功能化,使其具有针对核酸、小分子和蛋白质靶标的捕获探针,我们可以成功地以临床相关浓度和速度检测各种分析物。使用该平台,我们实现了核酸的纳摩尔检测水平,总分析时间短至 2 分钟。我们还描述了该传感平台的适应性,使其能够测量不带电荷的分析物——这是依赖于分析物电荷的报告系统所面临的挑战。此外,该系统的功能已应用于解决当前许多重要的临床挑战,包括细菌和病毒感染以及癌症生物标志物等致病物种的检测。这种新颖的电化学平台通过其独特的氧化还原循环读出策略实现了大的分子到电的放大,结合了快速有效的纳米结构微电极辅助的分析物捕获,在临床样本中实现了优异的特异性和灵敏度,其中分析物在复杂基质中以低浓度存在。