A novel electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer system for ultrasensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen

A novel electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) system from Eu3+-doped CdS nanocrystals (CdS:Eu NCs) to Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)-doped silica nanoparticle (RuSi) was designed for ultrasensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The platform consists of a CdS:Eu NCs film on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) as ECL emitter and a sandwich-type immunocomplex formed by the primary antibody, PSA and RuSi-tagged second antibody. This system showed a maximum of 4.83-fold enhancement of ECL intensity at 620 nm due to the efficient ECL-RET and high Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) quantum yields. By the signal amplification of RuSi and the specific antibody-antigen interactions, this ECL-RET system could sensitively respond down to 1.0 fg mL(-1) PSA. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.