Screen-printed electrodes modified with carbon black and polyelectrolyte films for determination of cancer marker carbohydrate antigen 19-9.

Electrochemical immunosensors have been developed to determine the carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). They are based on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) coated with layer-by-layer (LbL) films of carbon black (CB) and polyelectrolytes. Owing to a suitable choice of LbL film architecture, the procedures for immobilization of anti-CA19-9 antibodies on the electrode surfaces were straightforward. Mechanically flexible immunosensors were capable of detecting CA19-9 within a dynamic range of 0.01 to 40 U mL-1 and a limit of detection of 0.07 U mL-1 using differential pulse voltammetry. In addition to detecting CA19-9 at clinically relevant concentrations for pancreatic cancer in standard solutions, the immunosensors provide the determination of CA19-9 on cell lysate and human serum samples. Using LbL films led to immunosensors with superior performance compared to similar systems obtained by drop casting. The fabrication of this relatively simple, inexpensive platform is a demonstration that SPCEs modified with cost-effective materials are able to detect cancer biomarkers and may be adapted to other disposable immunosensors. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of assembly and characterization of electrochemical immunosensors for the determination of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 based on printed electrodes modified with composites of carbon black and polyelectrolyte films.

Screen-printed interdigitated electrodes modified with nanostructured carbon nano-onion films for detecting the cancer biomarker CA19-9.

Nanostructured capacitive biosensors, combined with inexpensive fabrication technologies, may provide simple, sensitive devices for detecting clinically relevant cancer biomarkers. Herein, we report a novel platform for detecting the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9 using low-cost screen-printed interdigitated electrodes (SPIDEs). The SPIDEs were modified by carbon nano-onions (CNOs) and graphene oxide (GO) films, on which a layer of anti-CA19-9 antibodies was immobilized. The modification with CNOs and GO significantly improved the analytical performance of the biosensor, which displayed superior results to those prepared only with GO. The biossensor exhibited high reproducibility and a relatively low limit of detection of 0.12 U mL-1. Using these devices in combination with information visualization methods we were able to detect CA19-9 in whole cell lysates of colorectal adenocarcinoma. The fabrication of these low-cost, disposable immunosensors is a successful attempt to explore CNOs in capacitive biosensors, which may be extended for detection of different cancer biomarkers.