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. 2022 Apr 19;12(9):1400.
doi: 10.3390/nano12091400.

A Plasmonic Biosensor Based on Light-Diffusing Fibers Functionalized with Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles for Ultralow Sensing of Proteins

Francesco Arcadio  1 , Mimimorena Seggio  2 , Domenico Del Prete  1 , Gionatan Buonanno  1 , João Mendes  3 , Luís C C Coelho  3 , Pedro A S Jorge  3   4 , Luigi Zeni  1 , Alessandra Maria Bossi  2 , Nunzio Cennamo  1
Affiliations

A Plasmonic Biosensor Based on Light-Diffusing Fibers Functionalized with Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles for Ultralow Sensing of Proteins

Francesco Arcadio et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Plasmonic bio/chemical sensing based on optical fibers combined with molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs), which are polymeric receptors prepared by a template-assisted synthesis, has been demonstrated as a powerful method to attain ultra-low detection limits, particularly when exploiting soft nanoMIPs, which are known to deform upon analyte binding. This work presents the development of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor in silica light-diffusing fibers (LDFs) functionalized with a specific nanoMIP receptor, entailed for the recognition of the protein human serum transferrin (HTR). Despite their great versatility, to date only SPR-LFDs functionalized with antibodies have been reported. Here, the innovative combination of an SPR-LFD platform and nanoMIPs led to the development of a sensor with an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD), equal to about 4 fM, and selective for its target analyte HTR. It is worth noting that the SPR-LDF-nanoMIP sensor was mounted within a specially designed 3D-printed holder yielding a measurement cell suitable for a rapid and reliable setup, and easy for the scaling up of the measurements. Moreover, the fabrication process to realize the SPR platform is minimal, requiring only a metal deposition step.

Keywords: biosensors; light-diffusing fibers (LDFs); molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs); molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs); plasmonic optical fiber biosensors; specialty optical fibers; surface plasmon resonance (SPR).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) The layout of the custom-designed holder used to fix the LDF-SPR sensor and realize the measurement cell. (B) The outline of the experimental setup.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Normalized transmission spectra acquired using water as bulk, before (solid line) and after (dashed line) the nanoMIP’s functionalization.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Normalized transmission spectra obtained for different values of HTR concentration (from 8 to 28 × 103 fM). Measurements were performed in triplicate.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Absolute value of resonance wavelength variation (with respect to the blank) versus the HTR concentration, with the Langmuir fitting of the experimental values in a semi-log scale. Measurements were performed in triplicate.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Sensitivity as a function of analyte concentration in semi-log scale.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Resonance wavelength variation with respect to blank for different substances.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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