Voltammetric immunosensor assembled on carbon-pyrenyl nanostructures for clinical diagnosis of type of diabetes

Anal Chem. 2015 Mar 3;87(5):2648-54. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b00016. Epub 2015 Feb 23.

Abstract

Herein we report the first serum insulin voltammetric immunosensor for diagnosis of type 1 and type 2 diabetic disorders. The sensor is composed of multiwalled carbon nanotube-pyrenebutyric acid frameworks on edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes (PGE/MWNT/Py) to which an anti-insulin antibody was covalently attached. The detection of picomolar levels of serum insulin binding to the surface antibody was achieved by monitoring the decrease in voltammetric current signals of a redox probe taken in the electrolyte solution. This method offered a detection limit of 15 pM for free insulin present in serum. This detection limit was further lowered to 5 pM by designing serum insulin conjugates with poly(acrylic acid)-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles (100 nm hydrodynamic diameter) and detecting the binding of MNP-serum insulin conjugate to the surface insulin-antibody on PGE/MWNT/Py electrodes. When tested on real patient serum samples, the sensor accurately measured insulin levels. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a voltammetric immunosensor capable of both diagnosing and distinguishing the type of diabetes based on serum insulin levels in diabetic patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods*
  • Carbon / chemistry
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / diagnosis*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / diagnosis*
  • Electrochemistry
  • Electrodes*
  • Graphite / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay
  • Insulin / blood*
  • Insulin / immunology
  • Limit of Detection
  • Magnetite Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Nanotubes, Carbon*
  • Pyrenes / chemistry
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Insulin
  • Magnetite Nanoparticles
  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Pyrenes
  • 1-pyrenebutyrate
  • Carbon
  • Graphite