A chemiluminescent dual-aptasensor capable of simultaneously quantifying prostate specific antigen and vascular endothelial growth factor

An aptasensor with guanine chemiluminescence detection was developed for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer with the simultaneous quantifications of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). A PSA DNA aptamer conjugated with Texas Red emits red light in guanine chemiluminescence reaction, whereas a VEGF DNA aptamer conjugated with 6-FAM emits green light. The PSA and VEGF aptamers immobilized on the surface of paramagnetic beads mixed with a sample were incubated for 30 min. After the incubation, PSA and VEGF bound with PSA and VEGF aptamers were simultaneously quantified for 20 s using guanine chemiluminescence detections operated with two photomultiplier tubes and two optical filters capable of selectively collecting green or red light. With the increase of PSA concentration, the strength of the red light emitted from Texas Red dropped exponentially, whereas with the increase of VEGF concentration, the green light emitted from 6-FAM was enhanced. The limits of detection were as low as 0.6 ng/ml for PSA and 0.4 ng/ml for VEGF. We confirmed that the dual-aptasensor can be applied as an advanced and new medical device capable of simultaneously quantifying PSA and VEGF to early diagnose prostate cancer with good accuracy, precision, and reproducibility.