Liposome-assisted chemical redox cycling strategy for advanced signal amplification: A proof-of-concept toward sensitive electrochemiluminescence immunoassay

This work presents a novel signal amplification strategy for electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor based on liposome-assisted chemical redox cycling for in situ formation of Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) on TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) electrode. The system was exemplified by ascorbic acid (AA)-loaded liposome, the redox cycling of AA utilizing tris (2-carboxyethyl) phosphine (TCEP) as reductant, and the use of Au nanoclusters (Au NCs)/TiO2 NTs as working electrode to implement the ECL detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA). Specifically, the AA-loaded liposomes were used as tags to label the captured PSA through a sandwich immunoreaction. After the lysate of the liposome was transferred onto the interface of Au NCs/TiO2 NTs in the presence of Au3+ and TECP, the chemical redox cycling was triggered. In the cycling, Au3+ was directly reduced in situ by AA to form Au NPs on Au NCs/TiO2 NTs electrode, whereas the oxidation product of AA was reduced by TCEP to regenerate AA. The large loading capacity of the liposome and chemical redox cycling resulted in the incomplete reduction of the Au NCs to Au NPs on the TiO2 NTs electrode, enhancing the ECL intensity greatly. The multiple signal amplification strategy achieved an ultrasensitive detection for PSA with a detection limit down to 6.7 x 10(-15) g mL(-1) and a wide linear concentration range from 1.0 x 10(-14) to 1.0 x 10(-8) g mL(-1). It is believed that this work is anticipated to extend the employment of advanced chemical redox cycling reaction in the field of ECL bioassays.

Automated summary

This study presents a novel signal amplification strategy for electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensors based on liposome-assisted chemical redox cycling. The strategy involves the in situ formation of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) electrode. The detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA) was demonstrated using ascorbic acid (AA)-loaded liposome and Au nanoclusters (Au NCs)/TiO2 NTs as working electrodes. The multiple signal amplification strategy achieved ultrasensitive detection of PSA with a wide linear concentration range.