Gold-Nanoparticle-Coated Magnetic Beads for ALP-Enzyme-Based Electrochemical Immunosensing in Human Plasma

A simple and sensitive AuNP-coated magnetic beads (AMB)-based electrochemical biosensor platform was fabricated for bioassay. In this study, AuNP-conjugated magnetic particles were successfully prepared using biotin-streptavidin conjugation. The morphology and structure of the nanocomplex were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and UV-visible spectroscopy. Moreover, cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to investigate the effect of AuNP-MB on alkaline phosphatase (ALP) for electrochemical signal enhancement. An ALP-based electrochemical (EC) immunoassay was performed on the developed AuNP-MB complex with indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Subsequently, the concentration of capture antibodies was well-optimized on the AMB complex via biotin-avidin conjugation. Lastly, the developed AuNP-MB immunoassay platform was verified with extracellular vesicle (EV) detection via immune response by showing the existence of EGFR proteins on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)-derived EVs (10(8) particle/mL) spiked in human plasma. Therefore, the signal-enhanced ALP-based EC biosensor on AuNP-MB was favorably utilized as an immunoassay platform, revealing the potential application of biosensors in immunoassays in biological environments.

Automated summary

In this study, a simple and sensitive AuNP-coated magnetic bead (AMB)-based electrochemical biosensor platform was developed. The platform was successfully utilized for the detection of extracellular vesicles, demonstrating the potential application of biosensors in immunoassays.