A facile strategy for the electrochemical
detection of human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a breast cancer biomarker, was presented
via the fabrication of an antifouling sensing interface based on the
conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and a
biocompatible peptide hydrogel. The peptide hydrogel prepared from
a designed short peptide of Phe-Glu-Lys-Phe functionalized with a
fluorene methoxycarbonyl group (Fmoc-FEKF) enabled excellent activity
preservation for the immobilized biomolecules, and its good hydrophilicity
facilitated effective alleviation of nonspecific adsorption or biofouling,
while the PEDOT film provided a highly stable and conducting substrate.
The developed biosensor was highly sensitive and selective for HER2
detection, with a wide linear response range from 0.1 ng mL–1 to 1.0 μg mL–1 and a low limit of detection
of 45 pg mL–1. Moreover, the peptide hydrogel based
biosensor was feasible to use for complex biological samples, and
it was capable of detecting HER2 in human serum with clinically acceptable
accuracy, manifesting a promising potential for practical application.