[Registration of the protein in the serum with a field-effect nanotransistor biosensor]

A method for detection of cancer-associated protein D-NFATc1 in serum using nanowire (NW) biosensor based on field-effect nanotransistor is developed. Field-effect nanotransistor was fabricated on the basis of «silicon-on-insulator» structures. For the biospecific detection of target protein, the NW surface was modified with aptamers against the target protein. Using the 3 um-NW enabled to obtain stable source-drain characteristics and to register D-NFATc1 in serum at concentration of 2.5 x 1014 M in the mode of drain-source current vs. gate voltage characteristics measurements. Data collection in the mode of drain-source current vs. gate voltage characteristics measurements was carried out with the use of high-speed data collection system running TURBO NBS software.

[SOI-nanowire biosensor for the detection of D-NFAT 1 protein]

The nanowire (NW) detection is one of fast-acting and high-sensitive methods allowing to reveal potentially relevant protein molecules. A NW biosensor based on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-structures was used for biospecific label-free detection of NFAT 1 (D-NFAT 1) oncomarker in real time. For this purpose, SOI-nanowires (NWs) were modified with aptamers against NFAT 1 used as molecular probes. It was shown that using this biosensor it is possible to reach the sensitivity of ~10(-15) M. This sensitivity was comparable with that of the NW biosensor with immobilized antibodies used as macromolecular probes. The results demonstrate promising approaches used to form the sensor elements for high-sensitive disease diagnostics.

SOI nanowire for the high-sensitive detection of HBsAg and α-fetoprotein

Silicon-on-isolator-nanowires (SOI-NWs) were used for the label-free, real-time biospecific detection of the hepatitis B marker HBsAg and cancer marker α-fetoprotein (AFP). Specific protein-protein recognition was carried out using individual NWs that were functionalized with antibodies. To solve the problem of non-specific binding of target protein molecules to the sensor element the use of a reference NW with immobilized antibodies against non-target proteins was proposed. Using individual SOI-NW surface functionalization allowed the fabrication of a NW array, containing working NWs and reference NWs within one chip. It was shown that this approach allows us to reach a detection limit up to 10(-14) and 10(-15) M for HBsAg and AFP, respectively. Our investigations also allowed us to reveal the influence of the charged state of the target protein molecules and antibodies in solutions with various pH values on the target protein detection limit. A high sensitivity NW-detector is of interest for the creation of diagnosticums for hepatitis B and for the early stages of cancer diseases.