An Optoelectronic Device for Rapid Monitoring of Creatine Kinase Using Cationic Conjugated Polyelectrolyte

Development of new methods and smart devices for precise monitoring and study of biological processes is a foremost area of organic bioelectronics. The use of such bioelectronic devices in early and point-of-care diagnosis of diseases, in particular cardiovascular disorders and cancer, is imperative, due to the increasing number of deaths globally. A new multimodal assay and portable device is introduced for direct monitoring of creatine kinase (CK), a well-known cardiac and colorectal cancer biomarker, using conjugated polyelectrolyte (PMNT). Based on distinct conformational, optical, and electrical behavior, the cationic polythiophene PMNT can efficiently recognize CK under physiological conditions and demonstrate remarkable naked-eye visualization and fluorescence turn-on detection ability without employing any antibody- or enzyme-coupled reactions typically used in traditional methods. Furthermore, the utilizing optical properties of PMNT at the interface of microelectronics and biology, a cost-effective and portable device is constructed to monitor CK rapidly and accessibly. The metabolism of CK is also studied via intracellular imaging of PMNT in human colorectal cancer cells (LS-174T) and by using the constructed prototype. This strategy displays the potential of conjugated-polymer-based devices in early stage diagnosis of disease and the study of biological activities, which ultimately advances their scope in the field of organic bioelectronics.