A luminescent biosensor for ex vivo detection of HER2-positive breast cancer based on a novel affiprobe

Abstract

A novel receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 (HER2)-binding affiprobe – named Z_HER2:342-RLuc – was designed, produced and assessed in terms of function to detect HER2 positive cells and for preliminary clinical diagnosis. The Z_HER2:342 affibody with affinity for HER2 was fused to Renilla luciferase, and the purified affiprobe was used for detection of HER2 positive cells as well as evaluation of surgical specimens from breast cancer patients. The results showed that the affiprobe can specifically bind to HER2 positive cells, and therefore, it may be used for molecular detection.