Vanessa Escamilla-Gómez

Simultaneous detection of free and total prostate specific antigen on a screen-printed electrochemical dual sensor

Voltammetric enzyme dual sensors for simultaneous determination of free and total prostate specific antigen (fPSA and tPSA) are described. Alkaline Phosphatase (AP) and a mixture solution of 3-indoxyl phosphate and silver ions were used as the enzymatic label and substrate, respectively. 8A6 or 5G6 antibodies specific for free and total PSA, respectively, were immobilized on different screen-printed electrodes (SPEs)--screen-printed carbon electrodes, screen-printed gold electrodes and screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with nanogold--in order to be able to select one of the surfaces as the most adequate one to develop the dual sensor. Screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with nanogold were the SPEs with the best analytical characteristics and lead to the most repeatable bioelectrodes, so they were selected for the development of the dual sensor. On Dualsensor-nAu electrodes, 8A6 antibody was immobilized on one working electrode and 5G6 antibody was immobilized on the other one by deposition of a drop of solution of each antibody and left overnight at 4 degrees C. Biotinylated anti-PSA antibody and streptavidin-AP conjugate were used as detection reagents, giving rise, to our knowledge, to the first simultaneous electrochemical biosensor for free and total PSA. The PSA dual sensor was used to monitor PSA production from three different cultures of human androgen-sensitive prostate tumor cells.

Immunosensor for the determination of Staphylococcus aureus using a tyrosinase–mercaptopropionic acid modified electrode as an amperometric transducer

AbstractAn amperometric immunosensor for the quantification of Staphylococcus aureus based on the coimmobilization of rabbit immunoglobulin G (RbIgG) and tyrosinase on a mercaptopropionic acid self-assembled monolayer modified gold electrode is reported. A competitive mode in which protein-A-bearing S. aureus cells and antiRbIgG labeled with alkaline phosphatase (AP) compete for the binding sites of immobilized RbIgG was used. Monitoring of the affinity reaction was carried out by the amperometric detection at –0.15 V of phenol generated in the enzyme reaction with AP, at the tyrosinase-modified electrode through the electrochemical reduction of the o-quinone formed. Optimization of the working variables, such as the immunosensor composition and incubation times, the applied potential, the working pH and the concentration of phenyl phosphate used as the AP substrate, was carried out. Under the optimized conditions, both the repeatability of the measurements and the reproducibility of the responses obtained with different immunosensors yielded relative standard deviation values for the steady-state current lower than 10%. The immunosensor showed a dynamic range from 4.4×105 to 1.8×107S. aureus cells mL−1, with a detection limit of 1.7×105 cells mL−1. The limit of detection was remarkably improved by subjecting S. aureus cells to wall lysis by heat treatment. The value obtained was 2.3×103 cells mL−1, which is adequate for the monitoring of S. aureus contamination levels in some foodstuffs. As an application, milk samples spiked with bacteria at the 4.8×103 cells mL−1 level were analyzed. FigureThe immunosensor configuration. AP alkaline phosphatase, RbIgG rabbit immunoglobulin G, MPA mercaptopropionic acid

Design and fabrication of a COP-based microfluidic chip: Chronoamperometric detection of Troponin T

This work demonstrates the design and fabrication of an all cyclo‐olefin polymer based microfluidic device capable of capturing magnetic beads and performing electrochemical detection in a series of gold electrodes. The size of chip is of a microscope slide and features six independent measuring cells for multianalyte detection purposes. The aim of this work is to show that rapid prototyping techniques can be instrumental in the development of novel bioassays, particularly in clinical diagnosis applications. We show the successful determination of troponin‐T, a cardiac disease marker, in the clinically relevant range of 0.05–1.0 ng/mL. This methodology achieves a detection limit of 0.017 ng/mL in PBS solutions, and is capable of detecting less than 1 ng/mL in a 1:50 human serum dilution.