Breast cancer today is one of the leading causes of cancer death in women across the world with an estimated 2.2 million breast cancer cases being diagnosed globally in 2020 alone.
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There are numerous invasive and non-invasive ways for early detection of breast cancer. However, they have several limitations. For instance, it can sometimes generate low-quality images or morphological structures. Invasive ways are more accurate but can be painful, expensive and time-consuming.
To overcome these issues, researchers from CSIR-Advanced Materials and Process Research Institute (AMPRI) Bhopal have developed a highly sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of breast cancer biomarker CD44 antigen.
To the unaware, CD44 antigen is a cell-surface glycoprotein involved in cell-to-cell interactions, cell adhesion and migration. In humans, the CD44 antigen is encoded by the CD44 gene on chromosome 11.
Studies have shown that CD44 remains one of the major molecules linked with breast cancer and other forms of tumours. Thus, its early detection can act as a crucial biomarker for exploring the development of breast cancer at a very early stage.
As per an India Science Wire report, the immunosensor has been developed using graphene oxide with a large surface area consisting of different functional chemical groups on its surface, making it a suitable electrode material in electrochemical immunosensor fabrication with high sensitivity. Graphene oxide on its own has quite a low conductivity. To boost this, they’ve made use of highly conductive materials like ionic liquids.
To further improve its properties, nanocomposite gold nanoparticles were also combined. The resultant GO-IL-AuNPs hybrid nanocomposites were also previously used by several researchers to develop an electrochemical sensor for the detection of dopamine in urine and a voltammetric biosensor for the detection of 2,4-dichlorophenol up to nanomolar concentration.
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Researchers synthesised an electrochemical immunosensor constructed using GO-IL-AuNPs on a glassy carbon electrode to detect CD44 antigen.
They made use of various methods to validate the structural and functional capabilities of the synthesised nanomaterials using UV — visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
The novel process showed excellent electrochemical detection performance against the CD44 biomarkers. Moreover, the work highlighted that the developed immunosensor had a wide detection range as well as an extremely low limit of detection compared to other biosensors.
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