Electrochemical genomagnetic assay for the detection of hepatitis B virus DNA in polymerase chain reaction amplicons by using disposable sensor technology

A genomagnetic assay coupling of electrochemical monitoring for the detection of wild type hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons has been described. The development of this technology combined with a disposable sensor, pencil graphite electrode (PGE) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was performed by using 20-mer synthetic oligonucleotides, and PCR amplicons in length 437-bp as measuring the guanine oxidation signal observed at +1.0 V after DNA hybridization with HBV probe. The detection limit estimated from S/N = 3, corresponds to 74.8 fmole/mL target concentration in the 50 μL samples. The characterization, optimization and advantages of the genomagnetic assay are discussed with its detection limit and reproducibility in comparison with previous electrochemical assays for DNA hybridization.