Aptamer/Au nanoparticles/cobalt sulfide nanosheets biosensor for 17β-estradiol detection using a guanine-rich complementary DNA sequence for signal amplification

We have developed a sensitive sensing platform for 17β-estradiol by combining the aptamer probe and hybridization reaction. In this assay, 2-dimensional cobalt sulfide nanosheet (CoS) was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method with l-cysteine as sulfur donor. An electrochemical aptamer biosensor was constructed by assembling a thiol group tagged 17β-estradiol aptamer on CoS and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified electrode. Methylene blue was applied as a tracer and a guanine-rich complementary DNA sequence was designed to bind with the unbound 17β-estradiol aptamer for signal amplification. The binding of guanine-rich DNA to the aptamer was inhibited when the aptamer captured 17β-estradiol. Using guanine-rich DNA in the assay greatly amplified the redox signal of methylene blue bound to the detection probe. The CoS/AuNPs film formed on the biosensor surface appeared to be a good conductor for accelerating the electron transfer. The method demonstrated a high sensitivity of detection with the dynamic concentration range spanning from 1.0×10−9 to 1.0×10−12 M and a detection limit of 7.0×10−13 M. Besides, the fabricated biosensor exhibited good selectivity toward 17β-estradiol even when interferents were presented at 100-fold concentrations. Our attempt will extend the application of the CoS nanosheet and this signal amplification assay to biosensing areas.