An epitope imprinted electrochemical sensor for highly sensitive and selective determination of prostate-specific antigen

A simple method for highly selective and sensitive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) detection using a molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor is presented. The sensor was developed through an epitope imprinted strategy combined with electrochemical measurement techniques. An epitope molecularly imprinted polymer (EMIP) film was constructed on a AuNPs-coated gold electrode surface through electropolymerization, utilizing the C-terminus epitope of PSA (KWIKDTIVANP) as the template molecular and o-phenylenediamine as the functional monomer. The characteristics of EMIP film were investigated by using a scanning electron microscope and electrochemical test methods, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Key parameters such as electropolymerization cycles, elution and rebinding times, and the molar ratio of template molecular to functional monomer were systematically optimized. The sensor demonstrated a detection limit (LOD) of 0.31 fg/mL and exhibited an excellent linear response towards PSA concentration ranging from 1.0 fg/mL to 0.1 µg/mL. Furthermore, the EMIP sensor showed excellent selectivity against other biological macromolecules, such as bovine serum albumin, human serum albumin, alpha-fetoprotein, and carcinoembryonic antigen. With recoveries between 95.89 and 106.04% for PSA detection in human serums the EMIP/AuNPs/AuE electrochemical sensor showed great potential in real sample analysis.

Graphical Abstract