Development of aptasensors using organic electrochemical transistors

• Grant number: 20/12905-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: January 25, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Mulato
• Grantee: Renan Colucci
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/24839-0 - Nanoelectronics and Nanoscale Electrochemistry: Fundaments and Applications., AP.TEM

Abstract

Biosensors are devices of high precision, specificity, simplicity and capable of detecting diseases in their early stages. In particular, biosensors based on organic materials have gained attention from the scientific community, as they allow the production of biocompatible, flexible, low-cost devices and are capable of detecting lower concentrations of analyte compared to conventional methods. The selectivity of biosensors is given through the functionalization of specific bioreceptors, such as enzymes, living cells, antibodies and among others, which interact with the target analyte. The interaction between the bioreceptor and the analyte results in a biological signal that must be converted into a measurable signal using a translator device. This project aims to develop biosensors that use organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) as a translator of biological signals. An OECT has a channel composed of an organic film in contact with an electrolyte, during its operation there is an ionic exchange between the channel and electrolyte, leading to a change in the drain current. OECTs have volumetric capacitance, that is, ions can penetrate the entire volume of the channel, which makes them highly sensitive. In the present work, the devices will be functionalized by immobilizing aptamers (single strands of DNA) on the door electrode or on the channel. Biosensors will be developed with the objective of detecting neglected tumors and diseases, with the main objective of detecting the dengue virus, which has a great impact on our country. The production of biosensors based on OECTs will increase the number of transducers used in the SENSORMAT Group, being one of the expected contributions of this project.