Polydopamine nanosphere@silver nanoclusters for fluorescence detection of multiplex tumor markers

There is an increasing demand to establish a convenient and stable analytical methodology for screening multiplex tumor markers in early diagnosis of cancers. In this work, an innovative fluorescence method is proposed for simultaneous detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). A polydopamine nanosphere@silver nanocluster (PDAN@AgNC) system is introduced for fluorescence quenching and recovery. The AgNCs with different emissions are synthesized using different DNA templates, which also contain aptamer sequences towards AFP and CEA, respectively. These single-stranded DNA sequences could be adsorbed on the surface of the PDAN through π-π stacking, which results in the quenching of AgNCs. However, in the presence of the corresponding tumor marker, the aptamer/target complex forms which releases AgNCs from the surface of the PDAN and the recovered fluorescence could be used to indicate the concentration of the tumor marker. This PDAN@AgNC system has been validated preliminarily to screen human serum samples with excellent results. Taking advantages of simplicity, enzyme/antibody-free nature, low cost and convenient operation, the proposed biosensor has great potential to be used in biomedical research studies and clinical diagnosis.