Aptamer-Based Electrochemical Biosensor for Interferon Gamma Detection

In this paper, we describe the development of an electrochemical DNA aptamer-based biosensor for detection of interferon (IFN)-gamma. A DNA hairpin containing IFN-gamma-binding aptamer was thiolated, conjugated with methylene blue (MB) redox tag, and immobilized on a gold electrode by self-assembly. Binding of IFN-gamma caused the aptamer hairpin to unfold, pushing MB redox molecules away from the electrode and decreasing electron-transfer efficiency. The change in redox current was quantified using square wave voltammetry (SWV) and was found to be highly sensitive to IFN-gamma concentration. The limit of detection for optimized biosensor was 0.06 nM with linear response extending to 10 nM. This aptasensor was specific to IFN-gamma in the presence of overabundant serum proteins. Importantly, the same aptasensor could be regenerated by disrupting aptamer IFN-gamma complex in urea buffer and reused multiple times. Unlike standard sandwich immunoassays, the aptasensor described here allowed one to detect IFN-gamma binding directly without the need for multiple washing steps and reagents. An electrochemical biosensor for simple and sensitive detection of IFN-gamma demonstrated in this paper will have future applications in immunology, cancer research, and infectious disease monitoring.