Redox-tagged peptide for capacitive diagnostic assays.

Early detection assays play a key role in the successful treatment of most diseases. Redox capacitive biosensors were recently introduced as a potential electroanalytical assay platform for point-of-care applications but alternative surfaces (besides a mixed layer containing ferrocene and antibody receptive component) for recruiting important clinical biomarkers are still needed. Aiming to develop alternative receptive surfaces for this novel electrochemical biosensing platform, we synthesized a ferrocene redox-tagged peptide capable of self-assembly into metallic interfaces, a potentially useful biological surface functionalization for bedside diagnostic assays. As a proof of concept we used C-reactive protein (CRP), as a model biomarker, and compared the obtained results to those of previously reported capacitive assays. The redox-tagged peptide approach shows a limit of detection of 0.8 nmol L(-1) (same as 94 ng mL(-1)) and a linear range (R(2)∼98%) with the logarithm of the concentration of the analyte comprising 0.5-10.0 nmol L(-1), within a clinical relevant range for CRP.