Fast functionalization of silver decahedral nanoparticles with aptamers for colorimetric detection of human platelet-derived growth factor-BB

• The silver decahedral nanoparticles (Ag10NPs) are very stable in NaCl.
• The functionalization of Ag10NPs with ssDNA is rapid, just 2 h.
• The prepared colorimetric sensor based on aptamer-Ag10NPs is highly sensitive and selective.
• The sensor can be applied in detection of PDGF-BB in serum.

Aptamer-silver decahedral nanoparticles (Ag10NPs-aptamer) based detection was developed for protein. Ag10NPs were synthesized by photochemical method. The advantage of Ag10NPs was its tolerance of NaCl which facilitates the functionalization of silver nanoparticles with all kinds of ssDNA. Attaching aptamers to Ag10NPs could be achieved within 2 h, much faster than traditional methods. Human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) was used as a model protein to test the binding capacity of aptamers attached on Ag10NPs. Our data showed that the aptamer-Ag10NPs conjugates were successful in detecting human PDGF-BB. Furthermore, we developed an aptamer-Ag10NPs conjugates-based colorimetric sensor to detect PDGF-BB. The results showed a linear relationship between PDGF-BB concentrations (5 ng mL−1–200 ng mL−1) and ΔOD with excellent detection specificity in serum. Therefore, the sensor based on aptamer-Ag10NPs conjugates was highly effective and sensitive and had great promise for further development and applications.

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