Ultrasensitive electrochemical determination of the cancer biomarker protein sPD-L1 based on a BMS-8-modified gold electrode

[Display omitted] •Gold electrodes were modified by BMS-8 to detect PD-L1 protein.•The XPS, contact angle and SFE measurements confirmed electrode modification.•The LOD for PD-L1 and PD-1 is below 3 × 10−14 M using impedance method.•Assay selectivity may be assessed by frequency dispersion of capacitance studies. This work describes the modification of a gold electrode with the BMS-8 compound that interacts with the Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1), an immune checkpoint protein. The results show that we can confirm the presence of the sPD-L1 in the concentration range of 10−18 to 10−8 M using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.87 × 10−14 M for PD-L1 (S/N = 3.3) and at a concentration of 10−14 M via cyclic voltammetry (CV). Additionally, high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle, and surface free energy measurements were applied to confirm the functionalization of the electrode. We investigated the selectivity of the electrode for other proteins: Programmed Death-1 (PD-1), cluster of differentiation 160 (CD160), and B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) at concentrations of 10−8 M. Differentiation between PD-L1 and PD-1 was achieved based on the analysis of the capacitance effect frequency dispersion at the surface of the modified Au electrode with BMS-8 after incubation at various concentrations of PD-L1 and PD-1 proteins in the range of 10−18 to 10−8 M. Significant differences were observed in the heterogeneity of PD-L1 and PD-1. The results of the quasi-capacitance studies demonstrate that BMS-8 strongly and specifically interacts with the PD-L1 protein.