Electrochemical determination of bleomycins based on dual-amplification of 4-mercaptophenyl boronic acid-capped gold nanoparticles and dopamine-capped gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Due to the significance of bleomycins (BLMs) in the treatment of a variety of cancers, it is highly desirable to develop a sensitive method to quantitatively determine the content of BLMs in both pharmaceutical analysis and clinical samples. Here, a simple, rapid, and convenient electrochemical DNA sensor for determination of BLMs was developed based on 4-mercaptophenyl boronic acid-capped gold nanoparticles (MBA-AuNPs) and dopamine-capped gold nanoparticles (DA-AuNPs) as a dual-amplification element. In the presence of Fe(II)·BLMs, the electrochemical DNA sensor undergoes an irreversible cleavage event, which can result in a significant decrease of the oxidation peak current of dopamine. This proposed sensor reveals a wide linear range from 0.07 nM to 910 nM (R = 0.9958) and a low detectable limit (0.02 nM) for the determination of BLMs. It also exhibits a good performance in serum samples. Based on the high sensitivity and specificity of this sensor, and the inherent characteristics (cost-effective and simple-to-implement) of the electrochemical technique, the developed DNA sensor shows distinct advantages over conventional methods and is a promising method for the determination of trace amounts of BLMs in both pharmaceutical analysis and clinical samples.