Label-Free Graphene Oxide Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Sensors for Selective Detection of Dopamine in Human Serums and Cells

Abstract

A novel label-free Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensor was developed from graphene oxide (GO) functionalized with doxorubicin (DOX) for selective and sensitive detection of dopamine (DA). Due to the competitive adsorption of DOX and DA onto GO, the addition of DA to the DOX−GO complex led to a significant fluorescence enhancement caused by replacing the GO-supported DOX with DA of a higher adsorption affinity to GO. The unique competitive adsorption interactions of DOX and DA toward GO, in conjugation with the fluorescence property of DOX, made the DOX−GO as an ideal label-free sensor to detect DA in human serums and cells.

Using Graphene-Based Biosensors to Detect Dopamine for Efficient Parkinson’s Disease Diagnostics

“…Along with the electrochemical biosensors, fluorescence biosensors are attractive due to their high sensitivity and rapid response. In terms of signal transduction, fluorescence biosensors are categorized as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) [ 62 ], chemiluminescence [ 63 ], fluorescence dye staining [ 64 ], fluorescent probe [ 65 ], and fluorescence anisotropy [ 66 ] biosensors, and have been proven to be promising devices for diagnostics. The GO derivatives of graphene have the ability to quench the fluorescence of the adsorbed dyes due to their conjugated structure.…”

“…The calculated value of the LOD is 0.031 nM. R. Cheng et al developed a label-free doxorubicin (DOX)-GO fluorescence sensor for DA detection in cells and the human serum ( Figure 4 a) [ 63 ]. DA has strong adsorption towards the GO as compared to the DOX.…”

Nanocomposite-Based Graphene for Nanosensor Applications

“…The novel doxorubicin (DOX) functionalized GO nanosensor was designed and synthesized for the detection of dopamine based on mechanism of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) [10]. The DOX showed strong property, but the fluorescence was quenched upon addition of GO (Figure 3).…”

Recent Advances in Design of Fluorescence-Based Assays for High-Throughput Screening

“…The unique properties of nanomaterials, such as large specific surface areas, high extinction coefficients, and broad ranges of the excitation/absorption wavelengths can greatly improve the ET effects and increase the flexibility of assay design. Typical nanomaterials employed in such systems are noble metal nanoparticles such as Au NPs and 2D nanomaterials like graphene oxides (GO). − For example, Sun and co-workers have developed a GO-based ET sensor for rapid and specific detection of unfolded collagen fragments . The fluorescein-labeled collagen-mimic, triple helical peptide was initially adsorbed onto the surface of GO via π–π stacking and hydrophobic interaction, bringing the fluorescein close to the GO and resulting in efficient fluorescence quenching.…”