An electrochemical aptasensing platform for carbohydrate antigen 125 based on the use of flower-like gold nanostructures and target-triggered strand displacement amplification.

An electrochemical aptasensing method is described for the determination of the biomarker CA125. It combines aptamer recognition and target-triggered strand displacement amplification. Flower like gold nanostructures were electrodeposited on a screen-printed carbon electrode to increase the sensor surface, to assemble more toehold-containing hairpin probe 1 (Hp1), and to improve the accessibility for DNA strands. Under the optimal conditions, this assay has a linear response in the 0.05 to 50 ng•mL-1 CA125 concentration range, with a low detection limit of 5.0 pg•mL-1. This method is specific and stable. It was successfully applied to the detection of CA125 in spiked biological samples, with recoveries between 82.5% and 104.1%. Graphical abstract.