Development of a PCB–based Electrochemical Aptasensor for Chikungunya Virus Protein Detection

Abstract

Chikungunya is a mosquito–borne viral infection, and its accurate identification is critical to avoid misdiagnosis. Herein, we demonstrate the development of a cost–effective, printed circuit board (PCB) –based biosensor platform to detect Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) E1 protein. A gold–coated PCB sensor that requires only ~10 µL of sample for analysis was fabricated. To detect the virus protein, an aptamer–based sensing platform was developed. Electrochemical characterization was carried out via square wave voltammetry (SWV). An S–shaped calibration curve was obtained, with a linear response in the 5 pM–100 nM range and a limit of detection of 10 pM. Specificity and real–sample analysis using human blood serum revealed high selectivity toward CHIKV E1, with a signal recovery rate of 93–102%. Overall, our findings indicate that the developed electrochemical sensor platform is a promising tool for the sensitive and specific detection of the Chikungunya virus protein.