Enhancement of sensitivity using hybrid stimulus for the diagnosis of prostate cancer based on polydiacetylene (PDA) supramolecules

In this study, hybrid stimulus was initially introduced to improve the sensitivity of PDA vesicle chip for detection of prostate-specific antigen-α1–antichymotrypsin (PSA–ACT) complex. The strategy of hybrid stimulus on PDA vesicle chip offers the amplification method of fluorescent signal which combines a primary response by the immune reaction of antigen–antibody and a secondary response by the mechanical pressure of pAb-conjugated magnetic beads. As the primary response result on PDA vesicle chip, the PSA–ACT complex in PBS buffer was detected at 10 ng/mL. However, this detection sensitivity was insufficient for diagnosis of prostate cancer because the normal human PSA concentration is less than 4.0 ng/mL. To solve this problem, polyclonal PSA antibody-conjugated magnetic beads were used as an amplifying agent after primary immunoresponse. As a result, the PSA–ACT complex concentrations (as low as 0.1 ng/mL) could be detected in the PBS buffer sample. Therefore, this result can be applied to various fields, such as the detection of cells, proteins, and DNA for sensitive and specific biosensing based on PDA supramolecules.