DNA aptasensor for the detection of ATP based on quantum dots electrochemiluminescence

A novel and facile strategy for the fabrication of aptamer-based adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) biosensor was developed by a quantum dot (QD) electrochemiluminescence (ECL) technique. Different from the existing strategies for the development of aptasensors based on electrochemical, fluorescent or other methods, the strategy proposed here is essentially based on the aptamer-ATP specific affinity and the rules of Watson-Crick base pairing. After the thiol modified anti-ATP probes were immobilized onto the pretreated Au electrode, the electrode was incubated in ATP solution to form aptamer-ATP bioaffinity complexes. The complementary DNA (cDNA) oligonucleotides were hybridized with the free probes. As a result, the avidin-modified QDs were bound to the aptasensor through the biotin avidin system in the existence of biotin-modified cDNA. The ECL signal of the aptasensor was responsive to the amount of QDs bound to the cDNA oligonucleotides, which was inversely proportional to the combined target analyte ATP. The QDs were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ultraviolet (UV) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The preparation process for the aptasensor was monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Possible interference, such as from the pH value of the electrolyte, the incubation time and the concentration of coreactant K2S2O8, on the aptasensor ECL response were investigated. The ATP concentration was measured through the decrease of ECL intensity. The ECL intensity of the aptasensor decreased with the increase of the logarithm of the ATP concentration over the 0.018-90.72 mu M range. In addition, the aptasensor exhibited excellent selectivity responses toward the target analyte. This study may offer a new and relatively general approach to expand the application of QD ECL in the aptasensor field.