开发出可快速追踪癌症生物标记物的石墨烯生物传感器

一篇发表在国际杂志2D Materials上的研究报告中，来自斯旺西大学的科学家开发了一种超灵敏的生物传感器，其可以帮助追踪癌症的生物标记物。
这种新型生物传感器的灵敏度是当前活体检测灵敏度的5倍以上，而且其仅需几分钟就可以快速得出准确的检测结果；新型生物传感器是一种有图案的石墨烯设备，文章中研究者在超高温低压力条件下将石墨烯置于碳化硅材料上从而制成了这种新型生物传感器的“模板”，紧接着利用半导体处理技术对“模板”绘图，再将一系列生物受体分子吸附于石墨烯设备上就制成了成品的生物传感器，吸附上的生物受体分子能够用于结合或进行靶向作用。
吸附上的生物受体分子名为8-羟基脱氧鸟苷（8-OHdG），其是在DNA损伤时产生的，较高水平的8-OhdG常常和许多癌症的发生相关；然而在尿液中8-OhdG的浓度却非常低，利用常规的ELISA方法很难检测到。这项研究中研究人员利用x射线光电子能谱技术和拉曼光谱揭示了，生物受体分子一旦经过“焊接”就可以永久吸附到石墨烯传感器上，进而就可以对一系列浓度的8-OhdG进行检测。
研究者表示，石墨烯传感器对8-OhdG可以检测到的最低浓度为0.1 ng mL-1,其敏感度几乎是ELISA的5倍以上；后期研究人员希望这种新型的生物传感器可以更加广泛地用于癌症生物标记物的追踪和检测，以及更多领域的相关研究。（转化医学网360zhyx.com）

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Generic epitaxial graphene biosensors for ultrasensitive detection of cancer risk biomarker
2D Materials doi:10.1088/2053-1583/1/2/025004
Z Tehrani1, G Burwell1, M A Mohd Azmi1, A Castaing1, R Rickman2, J Almarashi2, P Dunstan2, A Miran Beigi3, S H Doak4 and O J Guy1
A generic electrochemical method of 'bioreceptor' antibody attachment to phenyl amine functionalized graphitic surfaces is demonstrated. Micro-channels of chemically modified multi-layer epitaxial graphene (MLEG) have been used to provide a repeatable and reliable response to nano-molar (nM) concentrations of the cancer risk (oxidative stress) biomarker 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the functionalized MLEG. Confocal fluorescence microscopy using fluorescent-labelled antibodies indicates that the anti-8-OHdG antibody selectively binds to the phenyl amine-functionalized MLEG's channel. Current–voltage measurements on functionalized channels showed repeatable current responses from antibody–biomarker binding events. This technique is scalable, reliable, and capable of providing a rapid, quantitative, label-free assessment of biomarkers at nano-molar (<20 nM) concentrations in analyte solutions. The sensitivity of the sensor device was investigated using varying concentrations of 8-OHdG, with changes in the sensor's channel resistance observed upon exposure to 8-OHdG. Detection of 8-OHdG concentrations as low as 0.1 ng ml−1 (0.35 nM) has been demonstrated. This is five times more sensitive than reported enzyme linked immunosorbent assay tests (0.5 ng ml−1).