Gold nanoparticles modified reduced graphene oxide nanosheets based dual-quencher for highly sensitive detection of carcinoembryonic antigen

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 242; no. Pt 4; p. 125157
• Main Authors: Kalkal, Ashish, Pradhan, Rangadhar, Packirisamy, Gopinath
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Cancer diagnosis; Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); Dual-quencher; Nano surface energy transfer (NSET); Nanocomposite; Nano surface energy transfer (NSET); Nanocomposite; Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); Cancer diagnosis; Dual-quencher
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125157

In the current scenario, the dominance of cancer is becoming a disastrous threat to mankind. Therefore, an advanced analytical approach is desired as the need of the hour for early diagnosis to curb the menace of cancer. In this context, the present work reports the development of nano surface energy transfer (NSET) based fluorescent immunosensor for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) detection utilizing protein functionalized graphene quantum dots (anti-CEA/amine-GQDs) and a nanocomposite of nanostructured gold and reduced graphene oxide (AuNPs@rGO) as energy donor-acceptor pair, respectively. The obtained AuNPs@rGO nanocomposite has been characterized by different advanced analytical techniques. The functionality of the biosensor depends on quenching the fluorescence of anti-CEA/amine-GQDs donor species by AuNPs@rGO acceptor species, followed by the gradual recovery of GQDs' fluorescence after CEA addition. The efficient energy transfer kinetics have been envisaged by utilizing the AuNPs@rGO nanocomposite as a dual-quencher nanoprobe that revealed improved energy transfer and quenching efficiency (∼62 %, 88 %) compared to AuNPs (∼43 %, 81 %) as a single quencher. Further, the developed biosensing platform successfully detected CEA biomarker with notable biosensing parameters, including a wider linear detection range (0.001–500 ng mL−1), fast response time (24 min), and a significantly low detection limit (0.35 pg mL−1). •Synthesis of AuNPs@rGO nanocomposite via one-pot reduction method.•anti-CEA/amine-GQDs and AuNPs@rGO are used as NSET donor-acceptor pair.•AuNPs@rGO as dual-quencher reveal better quenching efficiency than AuNPs.•The NSET-based fluorescent immunosensor is fabricated for CEA detection.•Remarkable biosensing performance is obtained in standard and spiked serum samples.