Monsalve Yeison, Cruz-Pacheco Andrés F, Orozco Jahir
Max Planck Tandem Group in Nanobioengineering, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, University of Antioquia, Complejo Ruta N, Calle 67 No. 52-20, Medellín 050010, Colombia.
ACS Sens. 2025 Feb 28;10(2):1493-1504. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.4c03652. Epub 2025 Feb 5.
The development of red-light photoelectrochemical (PEC) nanoimmunosensors offers new avenues for detecting clinically relevant biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity. Herein, the first PEC nanoimmunosensor based on a plasmonic graphene and gold nanostar (AuNS) heterojunction excited with 765 nm red light is presented for label-free detection of C-reactive protein (CRP), a key biomarker of inflammation. This platform leverages the unique localized surface plasmon resonance effect of AuNSs in combination with in situ generated graphene to enhance photoelectrical conversion efficiency under 765 nm monochromatic light. This wavelength minimizes photodamage and interference from biological samples. By optimizing the nanoarchitecture and utilizing a bifunctional photoactive transduction platform, a linear detection range of 25-800 pg/mL is achieved, with a limit of detection as low as 13.3 pg/mL. The low-energy red-light activation, effective electron-hole pair separation, and signal amplification allow CRP's rapid, selective, and sensitive detection in real clinical samples from patients with low-grade chronic inflammation. The nanoimmunosensor demonstrated consistent analytical performance across multiple samples, showing potential for accurate biomarker monitoring in inflammatory disorders. This work highlights plasmonic nanomaterials to develop robust PEC immunosensors that provide scalable, noninvasive, automated, low-background noise as a highly sensitive alternative for clinical diagnostics.
红光光电化学（PEC）纳米免疫传感器的发展为高灵敏度和特异性地检测临床相关生物标志物提供了新途径。在此，首次展示了一种基于等离子体石墨烯和金纳米星（AuNS）异质结、由765 nm红光激发的PEC纳米免疫传感器，用于无标记检测炎症的关键生物标志物C反应蛋白（CRP）。该平台利用AuNSs独特的局域表面等离子体共振效应，并结合原位生成的石墨烯，以提高在765 nm单色光下的光电转换效率。此波长可将生物样品的光损伤和干扰降至最低。通过优化纳米结构并利用双功能光活性转导平台，实现了25 - 800 pg/mL的线性检测范围，检测限低至13.3 pg/mL。低能量红光激活、有效的电子 - 空穴对分离和信号放大，使得能够在来自轻度慢性炎症患者的实际临床样本中快速、选择性且灵敏地检测CRP。该纳米免疫传感器在多个样本中表现出一致的分析性能，显示出在炎症性疾病中准确监测生物标志物的潜力。这项工作突出了等离子体纳米材料在开发强大的PEC免疫传感器方面的作用，这些传感器可提供可扩展、无创、自动化、低背景噪声的检测，作为临床诊断的高灵敏度替代方法。
