Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications, Institute of Photonics Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Biosensors (Basel). 2023 Jun 24;13(7):674. doi: 10.3390/bios13070674.
Detection of trace tumor markers in blood/serum is essential for the early screening and prognosis of cancer diseases, which requires high sensitivity and specificity of the assays and biosensors. A variety of label-free optical fiber-based biosensors has been developed and yielded great opportunities for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) of cancer biomarkers. The fiber biosensor, however, suffers from a compromise between the responsivity and stability of the sensing signal, which would deteriorate the sensing performance. In addition, the sophistication of sensor preparation hinders the reproduction and scale-up fabrication. To address these issues, in this study, a straightforward lasso-shaped fiber laser biosensor was proposed for the specific determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-related cell adhesion molecules 5 (CEACAM5) protein in serum. Due to the ultra-narrow linewidth of the laser, a very small variation of lasing signal caused by biomolecular bonding can be clearly distinguished via high-resolution spectral analysis. The limit of detection (LOD) of the proposed biosensor could reach 9.6 ng/mL according to the buffer test. The sensing capability was further validated by a human serum-based cancer diagnosis trial, enabling great potential for clinical use. The high reproduction of fabrication allowed the mass production of the sensor and extended its utility to a broader biosensing field.
检测血液/血清中的痕量肿瘤标志物对于癌症疾病的早期筛查和预后至关重要，这需要检测和生物传感器具有高灵敏度和特异性。已经开发了多种基于无标记光纤的生物传感器，为癌症生物标志物的即时检测（POCT）提供了巨大的机会。然而，光纤生物传感器在传感信号的响应性和稳定性之间存在折衷，这会降低传感性能。此外，传感器制备的复杂性阻碍了其再现性和规模化生产。为了解决这些问题，在本研究中，提出了一种简单的套索形光纤激光生物传感器，用于特异性测定血清中的癌胚抗原（CEA）相关细胞黏附分子 5（CEACAM5）蛋白。由于激光的超窄线宽，通过高分辨率光谱分析可以清楚地区分由于生物分子键合而引起的激光信号的微小变化。根据缓冲液测试，该生物传感器的检测限（LOD）可达到 9.6 ng/mL。通过基于人血清的癌症诊断试验进一步验证了传感能力，为临床应用提供了巨大的潜力。制造的高再现性允许传感器的批量生产，并将其应用扩展到更广泛的生物传感领域。
