Carcino-embryonic antigen detection based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer between quantum dots and graphene oxide

The mixture of graphene oxide (GO) and aptamer labeled fluorophore is widely used in developing fluorescent sensors for the analysis of biomolecules, according to the light signal ‘off–on’ procedure. Moreover, the laser-induced fluorescence-coupled affinity probe capillary electrophoresis (APCE) technique has been broadly applied for the separation of micromolecules. Here, a strategy is proposed for analysis of content of carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) based on the combination of GO and quantum dots labeling aptamer (QD–aptamer) by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The method has three advantages: (i) combined with CE, only few samples are required and efficiency of separation is high, (ii) fluorescent detection can be carried out after separation of GO and fluorescence probe combined with targets by CE, while fluorescence detection sensitivity had been greatly improved, and (iii) the issues of APCE, including the effect of excess fluorescence probe and maximizing separation between analytes, could be solved by introducing GO. It has been proved that QD–aptamer–CEA complex can completely dissociate from GO. Results show that the fluorescence intensity has a linear relationship with the concentration of CEA in the range from 0.257 to 12.9ng/mL, and the limit of detection is approximately 5pg/mL (S/N=3). The proposed method with high specificity has been applied for the accurate analysis of content of CEA in patient׳s serum. •A strategy based on GO/aptasensor for detection of carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) is proposed.•It is proved that QD–aptamer–CEA can be completely dissociated from the surface of GO.•Good sensitivity and specificity have been obtained.•The proposed method is good for quantitative analysis of content of CEA in practical sample.