Affordable Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Detection of PCA3 for Early Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Prostate cancer frequently goes undetected at its early stage and it’s a major concern in male population. To address this challenge, we provide a new approach based on electrochemical biosensing for efficient detection of prostate cancer using PCA3 DNA biomarkers. Initially, screen-printed paper electrodes were fabricated and further modified by gold graphene quantum dots (Au-GQD), which were synthesized by domestic microwave method utilizing dextrose, trisodium citrate, and chloroauric acid. Au-GQD established an electrochemical sensing platform for DNA hybridization assay. Further, a grabbing PCA3 probe DNA was immobilized and characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The developed sensor enables the detection of PCA3 biomolecules. The sensing platform exhibits an excellent limit of detection (LoD) of 1.37 fM and 1.41 fM by CV and EIS, respectively. The limit of quantification (LoQ) is 4.08 and 4.27, respectively, within a wide linear range of detection (100 nM − 100 fM). The stability of the fabricated sensor was also scrutinized for up to 40 days. The proposed sensor effectively recognized PCA3 biomarker in real urine amidst various interferents. In future, the sensing platform could improve the prognosis of the disease by enabling early-stage identification.