Smartphone-Based Photoelectrochemical Immunoassay with Co9S8@ZnIn2S4 for Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Biomarker

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical immunoassays incorporating specific antigen-antibody recognition reactions with the photon-electron conversion capabilities of photocatalysts have been developed for biomarker detection, but most involve bulky and expensive equipment and are unsuitable for point-of-care testing. Herein, a portable smartphone-based photoelectrochemical immunoassay was innovatively designed for the on-site detection of breast cancer biomarkers (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; HER2). The system consists of a split-type immunoassay mode, disposable screen-printed electrode covered with hierarchical Co9S8@ZnIn2S4 heterostructures, an integrated circuit board, and a Bluetooth smartphone equipped with a specially designed app. Using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) catalytic strategy to in situ generate ascorbic acid (AA) for electron-donating toward Co9S8@ZnIn2S4 heterostructures, an immunoreaction was successfully constructed for the HER2 detection in the real sample due to the positive correlation of the photocurrent signal to electron donor concentration. Differential charge density indicates that the formation of Co9S8@ZnIn2S4 heterojunction can facilitate the flow of charges in the interface and enhance the photocurrent of the composite. More importantly, the measured photocurrent signal can be wirelessly transmitted to the software and displayed on the smartphone screen to obtain the corresponding HER2 concentration value. The photocurrent values linearly with the logarithm of HER2 concentrations range spanned from 0.01 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL with a detection limit of 3.5 pg/mL. Impressively, the clinical serum specimen results obtained by the proposed method and the wireless sensing device are in good agreement with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).