Nano-Micro Letters

Novel Graphene Biosensor Based on the Functionalization of Multifunctional Nano-Bovine Serum Albumin for the Highly Sensitive Detection of Cancer Biomarkers

Lin Zhou1, #, Kun Wang1, # , Hao Sun1,  Simin Zhao2, Xianfeng Chen3, Dahong Qian2, Hongju Mao1, *, Jianlong Zhao1, *

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Nano-Micro Lett. (2019) 11: 20

First Online: 09 March 2019 (Article)


*Corresponding author. E-mail: (Hongju Mao); (Jianlong Zhao)





A simple, convenient, and highly sensitive bio-interface for graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) based on multifunctional nano-denatured bovine serum albumin (nano-dBSA) functionalization was developed to target cancer biomarkers. The novel graphene–protein bioelectronic interface was constructed by heating to denature native BSA on the transferred graphene substrate surface. The formed nano-dBSA film served as the crosslinker to immobilize monoclonal antibody against carcinoembryonic antigen (anti-CEA mAb) on the graphene channel activated by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide. The nano-dBSA film functioned as a self-protecting layer of graphene to prevent surface contamination by conventional lithographic processing. The improved GFET biosensor based on this novel self-protecting fabrication method exhibited good specificity and high sensitivity toward the target at an ultralow concentration of 337.58 fg mL-1. The electrical detection of the binding of CEA followed the Hill model for ligand–receptor interaction, indicating the negative binding cooperativity between CEA and anti-CEA mAb with a dissociation constant of 6.82 × 10-10 M. The multifunctional nano-dBSA chemical functionalization can confer a new function to graphene-like two-dimensional nanomaterials and provide a promising graphene functionalization method for clinical application in biosensing, nanomedicine, imaging, cancer therapy, and drug delivery.



Bio-interface; Multifunctional denatured BSA; GFET biosensor; Cancer biomarker

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