A label-free sensing technology for detection of Ramos cell was developed based on a signal probe Ru(bpy)3Cl2 (Ru) encapsulated by DNA. Gold electrode or magnetic bead as the sensing surface was firstly modified with long-strand DNA with five repeating units. Then two kinds of short-strand DNA are grafted onto the long-strand DNA to form DNA strands A and B (L-A and L-B) through the hybridization, respectively. The addition of aptamer initiates hybridization of L-A and L-B with the aptamer sequence. As the hybridization proceeds, the four kinds of DNA would finally transform into a three-dimensional network structure and the signal probe Ru was encapsulated by DNA simultaneously. When Ramos cells are introduced to interact with the aptamer, the signal probe is released. In order to confirm the generality of this method the ferrocenecarboxylic acid and luminol selected as a signal probe mode were also tested. The Ru used as a signal probe for electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) detection was detailedly studied. With this ECL biosensor, detection limit as low as 58 cells/mL was achieved for Ramos cell. The biosensor also exhibited excellent sensitivity and selectivity.
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