Design of an electrochemical aptasensor in the presence of an array of gold nanostructure and a GO-MWCNTs nanocomposite: application in diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered one of the main progressive chronic diseases in elderly individuals. Early diagnosis using related biomarkers, specifically beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ), allows finding expected treatment routes. Here, we developed an electrochemical aptasensing platform for AD by employing a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a layer of jagged gold (JG) nanostructure (diameter: 60-185 nm) and graphene oxide-carboxylic acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (GO-c-MWCNTs) nanocomposite. These surface modifications acted as the signal amplifier and provided an optimum nano-interface substrate for immobilizing aptamer strands. The measurements of Aβ were performed via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and the aptasensor detected the analyte in a linear range from 0.1 pg mL^-1 to 1 ng mL^-1, with an estimated limit of detection (LOD) of about 0.088 pg mL^-1 (S/N = 3). The aptasensor showed sufficient stability (11 days), reversibility (three times), and reproducibility (five times re-fabrication with relative standard deviation (RSD): 1.27). The potential interfering agents showed negligible impact on the sensing performance. Finally, the application of the aptasensor was evaluated in the presence of 10 serum samples, and the recovery values were from 93 to 110.1%.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Aptasensor; Beta-amyloid (Aβ); Differential pulse voltammetry; Electrochemical detection; GO-c-MWCNTs nanocomposite; Jagged gold nanostructure.