Aptasensors help detection of cancer protein marker

Iranian chemistry researchers in association with their colleagues from Romania succeeded in the production of a highly sensitive and simple electrochemical aptasensor to detect protein marker of breast and uterus cancer. The aim of the research was to design and produce a highly sensitive and simple electrochemical aptasensor to measure MUC1 uterus and breast cancer protein marker by using printing sheet electrodes modified with gold nanoparticles. Results obtained from the produced aptasensor were in full agreement and comparable with those obtained from usual methods for the measurement of MUC1 protein in clinical tests (range of 0-10 ng/mL). It confirms that electrochemical method by using aptamers stabilized on gold nanoparticles is an appropriate and simple method, which enables the measurement of MUC1 protein in human samples at very low concentrations (0.95 ng/mL) in the initial period of the disease. Increasing the amount of stabilized aptamer chains on the surface of electrode, accessibility to target protein molecules (MUC1) after the completion of aptasensor structure and finally the production of distinguishable and individual signals are among the key issues in aptamer’s design based electrochemical biosensors. The groups are currently continuing their research on the production of electrochemical aptasensors and safety sensors modified with nanomaterials, specially with gold nanoparticles and quantum dots to detect biomarkers of other kinds of cancers and genetic diseases in real samples, including human blood serum by using at most a few microliters of blood sample. Results of the research have been published in Communications Electrochemistry, vol. 33, May 2013, pp. 127-130.