An electrogenerated chemiluminescence aptasensor for lysozyme based on the interaction between Ru(bpy)32+ and cucurbit[8]uril

Strong anodic Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) was obtained at a cucurbil[8]uril (CB[8]) modified electrode in neutral conditions without the need of an additional coreactant. An ECL aptasensor was fabricated based on the strong ECL emission as well as the host-guest interaction between DNA and CB[8]. Firstly, amino group-terminated complementary DNA (DNA-NH2) was firmly immobilized on CB[8]/glass carbon electrode, which could further increase ECL intensity. Then, a ferrocene group-terminated lysozyme aptamer (Fc-DNA) was hybridized with complementary DNA. The inhibiting effect of ferrocene on Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) ECL resulted in the apparent decrease in ECL signal. When the modified electrode was incubated in lysozyme, specific binding between lysozyme and its aptamer could release the ferrocene group from the electrode surface, and the ECL emission was recovered. As a result, an 'on-off-on' mode ECL aptasensor for lysozyme was fabricated. In the range 0.14-140 pg ml(-1), the increased ECL intensities exhibited excellent linearity with the logarithm of lysozyme concentrations, and the detection limit was calculated as 0.093 pg ml(-1) (3 sigma). The proposed ECL aptasensor exhibited satisfactory analytical performance, revealing the potential application of CB[n]s in an ECL sensing field.

Automated summary

A strong anodic Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) was achieved on a cucurbil[8]uril (CB[8]) modified electrode without the need of an additional coreactant. An ECL aptasensor was developed based on the host-guest interaction between DNA and CB[8], showing an 'on-off-on' mode for lysozyme detection with a detection limit of 0.093 pg ml(-1).