AUTHOR=Chen Haiyun , Huang Jie , Zhang Rongjing , Yan Fei 

TITLE=Dual-mode electrochemiluminescence and electrochemical sensor for alpha-fetoprotein detection in human serum based on vertically ordered mesoporous silica films

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2022.1023998

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2022.1023998

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=Herein we demonstrated the highly sensitive detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and electrochemistry (EC) based on the gated transport of bifunctional probe (tris(1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) chloride, Ru(phen)3Cl2) into the nanochannels of vertically-ordered mesoporous silica films (VMSF). Due to the negatively charged surface and ultrasmall pore size, VMSF displays signal amplification effect for Ru(phen)3Cl2 and is suitable for the construction of sensors with excellent sensitivity. With the linkage of (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane, anti-AFP antibody could covalently bind to the external surface of VMSF, generating high specific recognized sensing interface towards AFP. When AFP is presented, the formed immunocomplex hinders the diffusion of Ru(phen)3Cl2 to the underlying electrode surface, resulting in the decreased ECL or EC response. Dual-mode detection of AFP is achieved with a relatively low limit of detection (0.56 fg/mL for ECL and 4.5 pg/mL for EC) and a wide linear range (10 fg/mL~1 μg/mL for ECL and 10 pg/mL~1 μg/mL for EC). Moreover, owing to the inherent anti-fouling property of VMSF, the satisfactory results in analysis of human serum were obtained, showing great potential of the designed strategy in clinical diagnosis.