Split-type electrochemiluminescent gene assay platform based on gold nanocluster probe for human papillomavirus diagnosis

Persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Efficient detection of HPV16 E7 is necessary for early diagnosis and cure of the disease. Here, a novel and high-performance Au nanocluster (AuNC) probe-based split-type electrochemiluminescent (ECL) assay platform has been established to detect these oncogenes, in which the nucleic acid hybridization assay and the ECL measurements are performed independently. The proposed approach combines superior magnetic nanobead enrichment and separation technology, specific nucleic acid hybridization technology, and high-efficiency AuNC probe ECL strategy, and shows excellent advantages. First, the split-type ECL sensing platform can effectively avoid interference from biological samples and adequately uses the ECL efficiency of the AuNC probe. Furthermore, the ultrahigh sensitivity assay of HPV DNA can be achieved without any complex nucleic acid amplification technique. Taking advantage of the above merits of split-type detection, the ECL DNA sensor achieved ideal low detection of 6.8 aM and a wide dynamic range bridging 10 orders of magnitude HPV16 E7. Furthermore, together with its favorable and powerful specificity, high sensitivity, and good selectivity, this strategy could detect HPV16 E7 DNA in human samples, which showed great consistency with the FDA-approved approach (Hybrid capture 2, HC2). Therefore, this work proposes a facile and reliable split-type ECL platform for HPV diagnosis and shows great potential for the early diagnosis of other diseases.