Electrochemiluminescence Biosensor Based on 3-D DNA Nanomachine Signal Probe Powered by Protein-Aptamer Binding Complex for Ultrasensitive Mucin 1 Detection.

Herein, we fabricated a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of mucin 1 (MUC1) based on a three-dimensional (3-D) DNA nanomachine signal probe powered by protein-aptamer binding complex. The assembly of 3-D DNA nanomachine signal probe achieved the cyclic reuse of target protein based on the protein-aptamer binding complex induced catalyzed hairpin assembly (CHA), which overcame the shortcoming of protein conversion with enzyme cleavage or polymerization in the traditional examination of protein. In addition, CoFe2O4, a mimic peroxidase, was used as the nanocarrier of the 3-D DNA nanomachine signal probe to catalyze the decomposition of coreactant H2O2 to generate numerous reactive hydroxyl radical OH• as the efficient accelerator of N-(aminobutyl)-N-(ethylisoluminol) (ABEI) ECL reaction to amplify the luminescence signal. Simultaneously, the assembly of 3-D DNA nanomachine signal probe was executed in solution, which led to abundant luminophore ABEI be immobilized around the CoFe2O4 surface with amplified ECL signal output since the CHA reaction was occurred unencumberedly in all directions under homogeneous environment. The prepared ECL biosensor showed a favorable linear response for MUC1 detection with a relatively low detection limit of 0.62 fg mL-1. With excellent sensitivity, the strategy may provide an efficient method for clinical application, especially in trace protein determination.