UC Irvine

Urinary bladder cancer is a worldwide issue that calls for critical attention of effective biosensors for early cancer detection. The advent of virus-biosensor technology presents a promising and non-invasive solution by quantitatively detecting bladder cancer using electrical resistance-based measurements. Virus-biosensor films are prepared by incorporating M13 bacteriophage (phage) into a conductive polymer, poly 3,4-ehtylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT), on the surface of gold electrodes using electrodeposition. M13 bacteriophage are modified to display peptides for specific, high affinity binding to targeted biomarkers. The electrochemical impedance of virus-PEDOT films increases upon exposure to target biomarkers that selectively bind to the corresponding M13 bacteriophage. Changes in the real component of the impedance are observed for a broad range of frequencies, 5 Hz to 50 K Hz. These data show virus-PEDOT biosensor films follow a dose-response relationship over a subnanomolar to micromolar concentration range. These results show enhanced detection of arbitrary cancer biomarkers using modified viruses and can be expanded to general biosensing applications.