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Palacio I, Moreno M, Náñez A, Purwidyantri A, Domingues T, Cabral PD, Borme J, Marciello M, Mendieta-Moreno JI, Torres-Vázquez B, Martínez JI, López MF, García-Hernández M, Vázquez L, Jelínek P, Alpuim P, Briones C, Martín-Gago JÁ. Attomolar detection of hepatitis C virus core protein powered by molecular antenna-like effect in a graphene field-effect aptasensor. Biosens Bioelectron 2023; 222:115006. [PMID: 36538869 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.115006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Biosensors based on graphene field-effect transistors have become a promising tool for detecting a broad range of analytes. However, their performance is substantially affected by the functionalization protocol. In this work, we use a controlled in-vacuum physical method for the covalent functionalization of graphene to construct ultrasensitive aptamer-based biosensors (aptasensors) able to detect hepatitis C virus core protein. These devices are highly specific and robust, achieving attomolar detection of the viral protein in human blood plasma. Such an improved sensitivity is rationalized by theoretical calculations showing that induced polarization at the graphene interface, caused by the proximity of covalently bound molecular probe, modulates the charge balance at the graphene/aptamer interface. This charge balance causes a net shift of the Dirac cone providing enhanced sensitivity for the attomolar detection of the target proteins. Such an unexpected effect paves the way for using this kind of graphene-based functionalized platforms for ultrasensitive and real-time diagnostics of different diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Palacio
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Miguel Moreno
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, INTA-CSIC), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Almudena Náñez
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, INTA-CSIC), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Agnes Purwidyantri
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330, Braga, Portugal
| | - Telma Domingues
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330, Braga, Portugal; Centro de Física das Universidades do Minho e Porto (CF-UM-UP), Universidade do Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
| | - Patrícia D Cabral
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330, Braga, Portugal; Centro de Física das Universidades do Minho e Porto (CF-UM-UP), Universidade do Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
| | - Jérôme Borme
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330, Braga, Portugal
| | - Marzia Marciello
- Department of Chemistry in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University (UCM), Plaza Ramón y Cajal, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Beatriz Torres-Vázquez
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, INTA-CSIC), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain; Universidad de Alcalá, Facultad de Medicina, Madrid, Spain
| | - José Ignacio Martínez
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Francisca López
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mar García-Hernández
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis Vázquez
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pavel Jelínek
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 16200, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pedro Alpuim
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330, Braga, Portugal; Centro de Física das Universidades do Minho e Porto (CF-UM-UP), Universidade do Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
| | - Carlos Briones
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, INTA-CSIC), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
| | - José Ángel Martín-Gago
- Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), C/Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz 3, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
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Cabral PD, Domingues T, Machado G, Chicharo A, Cerqueira F, Fernandes E, Athayde E, Alpuim P, Borme J. Clean-Room Lithographical Processes for the Fabrication of Graphene Biosensors. Materials (Basel) 2020; 13:E5728. [PMID: 33334060 PMCID: PMC7765539 DOI: 10.3390/ma13245728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
This work is on developing clean-room processes for the fabrication of electrolyte-gate graphene field-effect transistors at the wafer scale for biosensing applications. Our fabrication process overcomes two main issues: removing surface residues after graphene patterning and the dielectric passivation of metallic contacts. A graphene residue-free transfer process is achieved by using a pre-transfer, sacrificial metallic mask that protects the entire wafer except the areas around the channel, source, and drain, onto which the graphene film is transferred and later patterned. After the dissolution of the mask, clean gate electrodes are obtained. The multilayer SiO2/SiNx dielectric passivation takes advantage of the excellent adhesion of SiO2 to graphene and the substrate materials and the superior impermeability of SiNx. It hinders native nucleation centers and breaks the propagation of defects through the layers, protecting from prolonged exposition to all common solvents found in biochemistry work, contrary to commonly used polymeric passivation. Since wet etch does not allow the required level of control over the lithographic process, a reactive ion etching process using a sacrificial metallic stopping layer is developed and used for patterning the passivation layer. The process achieves devices with high reproducibility at the wafer scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrícia D. Cabral
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
- Center of Physics, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Telma Domingues
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
| | - George Machado
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
| | - Alexandre Chicharo
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
| | - Fátima Cerqueira
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
- Center of Physics, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Elisabete Fernandes
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
| | - Emília Athayde
- Center of Mathematics, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal;
| | - Pedro Alpuim
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
- Center of Physics, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Jérôme Borme
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330 Braga, Portugal; (P.D.C.); (T.D.); (G.M.J.); (A.C.); (F.C.); (E.F.); (J.B.)
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