An electrochemical immunosensor for brain natriuretic peptide prepared with screen-printed carbon electrodes nanostructured with gold nanoparticles grafted through aryl diazonium salt chemistry

A sensitive amperometric immunosensor has been prepared by immobilization of capture antibodies onto gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grafted on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) through aryl diazonium salt chemistry using 4-aminothiophenol (AuNPs-S-Phe-SPCE). The immunosensor was designed for the accurate determination of clinically relevant levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in human serum samples. The nanostructured electrochemical platform resulted in an ordered layer of AuNPs onto SPCEs which combined the advantages of high conductivity and improved stability of immobilized biomolecules. The resulting disposable immunosensor used a sandwich type immunoassay involving a peroxidase-labeled detector antibody. The amperometric transduction was carried out at −0.20 V (vs the Ag pseudo-reference electrode) upon the addition of hydroquinone (HQ) as electron transfer mediator and H2O2 as the enzyme substrate. The nanostructured immunosensors show a storage stability of at least 25 days, a linear range between 0.014 and 15 ng mL−1, and a LOD of 4 pg mL−1, which is 100 times lower than the established cut-off value for heart failure (HF) diagnosis. The performance of the immunosensor is advantageously compared with that provided with immunosensors prepared by grafting SPCE with p-phenylendiamine (H2N-Phe-SPCE) and attaching AuNPs by immersion into an AuNPs suspension or by electrochemical deposition, as well as with immunosensors constructed using commercial AuNPs-modified SPCEs. The developed immunosensor was applied to the successful analysis of human serum from heart failure (HF) patients upon just a 10-times dilution as sample treatment.
The financial support of projects: RetosColaboración RTC-2015- 4184-1 (cofinanced by the Ministry of Economy and Competitivity and FEDER “una manera de hacer Europa”), CTQ2015-70023-R and CTQ2015-64402-C2-1-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity Research Projects) and S2013/MT-3029 (NANOAVANSENS Program from the Comunidad de Madrid) are gratefully acknowledged. R.M. Torrente-Rodríguez acknowledges a predoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.