Electrochemical sensor for cancer cell detection using calix[8]arene/polydopamine/phosphorene nanocomposite based on host−guest recognition

Abstract The detection of tumor cells plays an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In this paper, we reported a novel cytosensing platform based on the supermolecular recognition using p-sulfonated calix [ 8 ]arene (SCX8)/polydopamine (PDA) /black phosphorene (BPene) nanocomposite as a receptor for cancer cells. Then, dopamine was in situ polymerized on the BPene surface to construct the BPene@PDA nanocomposite. Furthermore, SCX8 was functionalized with BPene@PDA to produce BPene@PDA − SCX8 nanocomposite. The SCX8 in BPene@PDA − SCX8 can bind to folic acid (FA) and form a stable BPene@PDA − SCX8·FA conjugate through host-guest recognition. Cancer cells can bind to the BPene@PDA − SCX8·FA modified electrode through FA and the folic receptor (FR) on the cancer cells by forming an SCX8−FA − FR sandwich-type conjugate, resulting in increased impedance that was proportional to the cell amount. Therefore, cancer cells were detected. The cytosensor exhibited a linear relation with LNCaP cells concentration within the range of 2 × 102 to 1 × 105 cells mL−1 with a detection limit of 36 cells mL−1. The constructed cytosensing platform demonstrated good sensitivity, acceptable stability, and favorable reproducibility due to specific supramolecular recognition, which has the potential applications in cancer recognition and diagnosis.