Peptide-Mediated Electrochemical Steric Hindrance Assay for One-Step Detection of HIV Antibodies.

Diagnosis of infectious disease in patients, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, can be achieved through the detection of specific antibodies produced by the immune system. We have previously shown that macromolecules such as antibodies can be efficiently detected in complex biological samples by sterically inhibiting the hybridization of conjugated complementary DNA strands to electrode-bound DNA strands. Here, we report a peptide-mediated electrochemical steric hindrance hybridization assay, PeSHHA, specially for the detection of antibodies against the gp41 protein of HIV-1. We show that the sensitivity of this PeSHHA can be significantly enhanced using nanostructured electrodes and demonstrate the rapid, one-step detection of HIV-1 antibodies directly in clinical samples.