Cu-MOF/Aptamer/Magnetic Bead Sensor for Detection of Breast Cancer Biomarkers HER2 and ER

Cancer markers are used for early cancer detection and follow-up monitoring so that patients receive the most appropriate treatment to alleviate suffering and prolong life. Herein, a metal–organic framework (MOF) combined with magnetic beads (MB) is proposed as a nanosensor for detecting breast cancer biomarkers based on magnetic enrichment and separation. With the porous structure of Cu-MOF, a large number of aptamers are adsorbed inside the pore to specifically capture the antigen. Then, Cu-MOF@antigen is enriched and separated by MB modified with the corresponding antibody. Supernatant Cu-MOF and Cu-MOF@antigen@MB are used as colorimetric, fluorescent, and electrochemical sensing elements for the quantitative detection of HER2 and ER. The detection ranges for HER2 and ER are 4.5 fg/mL–20 ng/mL and 10 fg/mL–20 ng/mL, respectively. It also demonstrated good performance in the detection of human serum samples, with recoveries ranging from 89.00 to 107.57%. This nanosensor has promising selectivity, stability, and practical applicability, providing the possibility for its in-depth development.