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Electrochemical cytosensor utilizing tetrahedral DNA/bimetallic AuPd holothurian-shaped nanoparticles for ultrasensitive non-destructive detection of circulating tumor cells

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Abstract

As a real-time fluid biopsy method, the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provides important information for the early diagnosis, precise treatment, and prognosis of cancer. However, the low density of CTCs in the peripheral blood hampers their capture and detection with high sensitivity and selectivity using currently available methods. Hence, we designed a sandwich-type electrochemical aptasensor that utilizes holothurian-shaped AuPd nanoparticles (AuPd HSs), tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs), and CuPdPt nanowire networks (NWs) interwoven with a graphdiyne (GDY) sheet for ultrasensitive non-destructive detection of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. CuPdPt NW–GDY effectively enhanced the electron transfer rate and coupled with the loaded TDNs. The TDNs could capture MCF-7 cells with precision and firmness, and the resulting composite complex was combined with AuPd HSs to form a sandwich-type structure. This novel aptasensor showed a linear range between 10 and 106 cells mL−1 and an ultralow detection limit of 7 cells mL−1. The specificity, stability, and repeatability of the measurements were successfully verified. Moreover, we used benzonase nuclease to achieve non-destructive recovery of cells for further clinical studies. According to the results, our aptasensor was more sensitive measuring the number of CTCs than other approaches because of the employment of TDNs, CuPdPt NW–GDY, and AuPd HSs. We designed a reliable sensor system for the detection of CTCs in the peripheral blood, which could serve as a new approach for cancer diagnosis at an early stage.

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Funding

We appreciate the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82102516), the Foundation of Sichuan Science and Technology Agency (No. 2023NSFSC0537), and the Graduate Innovation Fund of Chengdu Medical College (YCX2023-01–42).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Laboratory, Clinical Medical College and The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan, China

    Hong Guo & Mei Chen

  2. School of Bioscience and Technology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan, China

    Yang Fu & Siyu Chen

  3. School of Public Health, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan, China

    Yuxin Wei & Linzhi Xie

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  1. Hong Guo
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  2. Yang Fu
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  3. Siyu Chen
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Contributions

Hong Guo: original draft, review. Yang Fu: methodology, software. Siyu Chen: investigation, conceptualization. Linxin He: data curation, methodology. Linzhi Xie: resources, formal analysis. Mei Chen: funding acquisition, editing, and validation.

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Correspondence to Mei Chen.

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Guo, H., Fu, Y., Chen, S. et al. Electrochemical cytosensor utilizing tetrahedral DNA/bimetallic AuPd holothurian-shaped nanoparticles for ultrasensitive non-destructive detection of circulating tumor cells. Microchim Acta 191, 298 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-024-06378-1

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