A simple and sensitive electrochemical biosensor for circulating tumor cell determination based on dual-toehold accelerated catalytic hairpin assembly

Xiaohe Zhang; Xiujuan Jiang; Wen Wang; Shihua Luo; Shujuan Guan; Wenbin Li; Bo Situ; Bo Li; Ye Zhang; Lei Zheng

doi:10.1007/s00604-023-05649-7

A simple and sensitive electrochemical biosensor for circulating tumor cell determination based on dual-toehold accelerated catalytic hairpin assembly

Mikrochim Acta. 2023 Jan 24;190(2):65. doi: 10.1007/s00604-023-05649-7.

Authors

Xiaohe Zhang^#^{1

2}, Xiujuan Jiang^#^{1

2}, Wen Wang^{1

3}, Shihua Luo^{1

2}, Shujuan Guan^{1

2}, Wenbin Li^{1

2}, Bo Situ^{1

2}, Bo Li^{1

2}, Ye Zhang^{4

5}, Lei Zheng^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory Medicine Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
² Guangdong Engineering and Technology Research Center for Rapid Diagnostic Biosensors, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
³ Medical Laboratory of Shenzhen Luohu People's Hospital, Shenzhen, 518003, Guangdong Province, China.
⁴ Laboratory Medicine Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. zhangye232@i.smu.edu.cn.
⁵ Guangdong Engineering and Technology Research Center for Rapid Diagnostic Biosensors, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. zhangye232@i.smu.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University, (The First People's Hospital of Shunde), Foshan, 528300, Guangdong Province, China. nfyyzhenglei@smu.edu.cn.
⁷ Laboratory Medicine Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. nfyyzhenglei@smu.edu.cn.
⁸ Guangdong Engineering and Technology Research Center for Rapid Diagnostic Biosensors, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. nfyyzhenglei@smu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36692585
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-023-05649-7

Abstract

Tumor cells in blood circulation (CTCs) are vital biomarkers for noninvasive cancer diagnosis. We developed a simple and sensitive electrochemical biosensor based on dual-toehold accelerated catalytic hairpin assembly (DCHA) to distinguish CTCs from blood cells. In the presence of CTCs, the aptamer probe initiates the DCHA process, which produces amplified electrochemical signals. Compared with conventional catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA), the proposed DCHA showed high sensitivity, which led to a broader working range of 10-1000 cells mL^-1 with a limit of detection of 4 cells mL^-1. Furthermore, our method exhibited an excellent capability of distinguishing malignant breast cancers from healthy people, with a sensitivity of 97.4%. In summary, we have established an enzyme-free, easy-to-operate, and nondisruptive method for detecting circulating tumor cells in blood circulation based on the DCHA strategy. Its versatility and simplicity will make it more widely used in clinical diagnosis and biomedical research.

Keywords: Aptamer; CTCs; Catalytic hairpin assembly; Dual-toehold; Electrochemical biosensors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aptamers, Nucleotide*
Biosensing Techniques* / methods
Breast Neoplasms*
Catalysis
Female
Humans
Neoplastic Cells, Circulating*

Substances

Aptamers, Nucleotide

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding