Heart failure (HF) is a burgeoning public health problem trigged by a heart circulation disorder. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has been acknowledged as a prognostic biomarker for cardiac disease. Herein, a sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was introduced for sensitive detection of NT-proBNP. Gold nanoparticle modified graphene oxide-Ru(bpy)32+/Ag2C2O4 was used as a luminophore and a desirable platform for immobilization of the captured antibodies. The more stable immobilization of plentiful Ru(bpy)32+ could be implemented by direct covalent bonding chelation with Ag2C2O4. More importantly, significant quenching can be achieved by introducing polydopamine (PDA) coated Fe3O4 onto the electrode via sandwich immunoreactions. The quenching mechanism mainly showed that the excited states of Ru(bpy)32+ could be annihilated by quinone units in PDA via energy transfer. The ECL quenching efficiency was logarithmically related to the concentration of the NT-proBNP in the range from 0.0005 ng/mL to 100.0 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.28 pg/mL. Furthermore, this specific immunosensor presented good stability and repeatability as well as selectivity, which offers a guiding significance in both fundamental and clinical diagnosis of NT-proBNP.
Keywords: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide; electrochemiluminescence; immunosensor; polydopamine; quenching.