Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor conjugated mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers for breast cancer diagnostics

Abstract

We report the fabrication of an efficient, label-free, selective and highly reproducible immunosensor with unprecedented sensitivity (femto-molar) to detect a breast cancer biomarker for early diagnostics. Mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers (ZnOnFs) are synthesized by electrospinning technique with a fiber diameter in the range of 50-150 nm. Fragments of ZnOnFs are electrophoretically deposited on an indium tin oxide glass substrate and conjugated via covalent or electrostatic interactions with a biomarker (antiErbB2; epidermal growth factor receptor 2). Oxygen plasma treatment of the carbon doped ZnOnFs generates functional groups (-COOH, -OH, etc.) that are effective for the conjugation of anti-ErbB2. ZnOnFs without plasma treatment that conjugate via electrostatic interactions were also tested for comparison. Label-free detection of the breast cancer biomarker by this point-of-care device is achieved by an electrochemical impedance technique that has high sensitivity (7.76 kΩ µM ). This sensor is about an order of magnitude more sensitive than the best demonstrated in the literature based on different nanomaterials and about three orders of magnitude better than the ELISA standard for breast cancer biomarker detection. This proposed point-of-care cancer diagnostic offers several advantages, such as higher stability, rapid monitoring, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, etc., and should prove to be useful for the detection of other bio-and cancer markers.

Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Metal Oxide Nanofibers and Their Environmental Remediation Applications

“…There are many methods such as melt, colloid, solution, dry and co-axial electrospinning, CVD, PECVD, and electrochemical methods that are used to yield metal oxide and nanofibers [14,15,[104][105][106][107][108]. In recent times, electrospun metal oxides' precursors have garnered much interest for the production of multifunctional nanofibers [109,110].…”

Carbohydrate-based electrochemical biosensor for detection of a cancer biomarker in human plasma

“…However, biosensors designed for the detection of cancer biomarkers of clinical interest are quasi-exclusively immunosensors (Wang et al, 2008;Jie et al, 2010;Lin et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012;Hao et al, 2012;Tang et al, 2014;Ali et al, 2015;, which could be cost-effective for some of them. Despite the fact that our F6P-biosensor uses affordable reagents for its design, its sensing performances are remarkably high when compared to reported electrochemical immunosensors in term of LD and linear range (Table 1).…”

Nanofibers for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications

“…Especially during the early stages of the disease, biomarker concentration is at ultra‐low level . Nanofiber‐based biosensors provide promising horizon on the early cancer detection such as electrochemical biosensor based on CNTs doped nylon6/poly(thionine) (CNT‐PA6‐PTH) electrospun nanofibers for K‐ras gene mutations detection (in concentration just only 30 f m ), Pd functionalized WO 3 nanofibers as a gas sensor sensitive to toluene in lung cancer detection (Rair/Rgas = 1.32), fluorescent chemosensor based on a dendritic zinc porphyrin (Den‐Por(Zn)) electrospun nanofibrous membrane for detection of histamine in urine as a biomarker for cancer detection, anti‐epidermal growth factor receptor conjugated mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers as an immunosensor with unprecedented sensitivity (femtomolar) to detect breast cancer, and electrochemical detection of cathepsin B activity in breast cancer cell lysates using carbon nanofiber . Electrochemical biosensors based on unique properties such as rapid sensing, low cost, portability, and ease of use have been offered in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).…”