Microfluidic platform integrated with graphene-gold nano-composite aptasensor for one-step detection of norovirus

Noroviruses are a foremost cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks throughout the world. On-site sample processing and detection of the viral clinical samples has always been a problem. This study reports an all-polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic chip integrated with screen-printed carbon electrode for the electrochemical detection of norovirus. The microfluidic chip contained packed silica microbeads zones to filter and enrich the norovirus infected clinical sample. Selective detection of norovirus was accomplished by functionalizing the graphene-gold nanoparticles composite modified carbon electrode with the viral capsid-specific aptamer. Norovirus specific aptamer was tagged with a ferrocene molecule, which acts a redox probe. The interaction of aptamer and norovirus resulted in a decrease in the electrochemical signal from ferrocene. The microfluidic chip and functionalized electrodes were characterized using several microscopic and electrochemical techniques. The optimized microfluidic aptasensor was employed to detect a range of norovirus concentration. Using differential pulse voltammetric analysis, a detection limit of 100 pM with a detection range from 100 pM to 3.5 nM for norovirus was obtained. The application of aptasensor was also assessed by detecting norovirus in spiked blood samples. The aptasensor could easily discriminate between the target norovirus and other interfering molecules. The developed microfluidic aptasensor has the potential to be used for point-of-care one-step detection of norovirus in clinical samples.