CuBr2/EDTA-mediated ATRP for ultrasensitive fluorescence detection of lung cancer DNA

In this paper, we reported a system for the ultrasensitive fluorescence detection of cytokeratin fragment antigen 21–1 DNA (CYFRA21-1 DNA) for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. The approach used electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET-ATRP) with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as the metal ligand. Firstly, thiolated peptide nucleic acid (PNA) was linked to aminated magnetic beads solutions (MBs) by a cross-linking agent and then hybridized with CYFRA21-1 DNA (tDNA). Subsequently, Zr4+ was introduced into the MBs by conjugating with the phosphate group of tDNA, and the initiator of ARGET-ATRP was introduced into via phosphate-Zr4+-carboxylate chemistry. Next, Cu(II)Br/EDTA was reduced to Cu(I)/EDTA by ascorbic acid (AA) to trigger ARGET-ATRP and then a large amount of fluorescein-o-acrylate (FA) molecules were grafted from the surface of the MBs, which amplified significantly the fluorescent signal. Under optimal conditions, a strong linear relationship of tDNA over the range from 0.1 fM to 1 nM (R2 = 0.9988). The limit of detection was as low as 23.8 aM (~143 molecules). The fluorescence detection based on the ARGET-ATRP strategy yielded excellent sensitivity, selectivity, outstanding anti-interference properties, and cost-effectiveness. These results indicated that this strategy has considerable potential for biological detection and early clinical diagnosis.