Aggregation of cysteamine-capped gold nanoparticles in presence of ATP as an analytical tool for rapid detection of creatine kinase (CK-MM)

Creatine kinase, a key biomarker associated with many debilitating physiological conditions has seldom been detected in biological fluids using functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs). We have developed a method based on the aggregation of cysteamine (Cys) functionalized GNPs in presence of ATP for effective detection of creatine kinase (CK-MM). Positively charged Cys-GNPs (brick red color) aggregate in presence of negatively charged ATP (blue color) but the process is prevented when CK-MM is added to the solution. The analytical response to the concentration of CK-MM is linear (R2 = 0.9850). The proposed method is selective in sensing the CK-MM for a range of 5.617 × 103 ng/ml, 0.5617 ng/ml. The limit of detection was found to be 0.569 ng/ml in solution and 0.553 ng/ml in human serum with high selectivity. •Creatine Kinase (CK-MM) is a key biomarker associated with myocardial infarction.•We report the use of as a sensitive probe to detect CK-MM.•ATP induced aggregation is the fundamental mechanism for the detection system.•This is the first report for the colorimetric detection of CK-MM in serum spiked samples.