Femtomolar Electrochemical Detection of DNA Targets Using Metal Sulfide Nanoparticles Jacob A. Hansen, † Rupa Mukhopadhyay, ‡ Jonas Ø. Hansen, ‡ and Kurt V. Gothelf* ,† Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus UniVersity, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark Received October 31, 2005; E-mail: kvg@chem.au.dk The development of highly sensitive and selective DNA sensors for diagnosis and forensic investigations is a field of ever increasing interest. Most detection methodologies rely on hybridization with probes providing an optical readout. 1 Within recent years, several inventive designs for DNA sensors based on an electrochemical readout have appeared. 2 Electrochemical detection assays have the advantage of being simple, reliable, cheap, sensitive, and selective for genetic detection. Electrochemical sensors based on impedance 3 or voltammetry 4 have been reported, and in recent years, metal nanoparticles have been applied for electrochemical DNA sensors with sensitivities in the pico- and femtomolar range. 5 Mirkin reported on gold nanoparticle-based electrochemical DNA chips. 6 Wang et al. reported on electrochemical assays based on quantum dot nanocrystals as tracers. 7,8 These quantum dots exhibit sharp and well resolved stripping voltammetry signals due to the well- defined oxidation potentials of the metal components. However, most of the electrochemical DNA sensors reported until now require the subsequent addition of a label or, with few exceptions, 9 suffer from low sensitivity. Here we report on a new metal sulfide nanoparticle-based electrochemical detection method that provides detection capabilities down to 100 attomol of target DNA. The setup is constructed to give a signal-off response with a build-in control signal. The control signal eliminates the disadvantages commonly associated with signal-off sensors. A highly selective assay for binding and detection of multiple metal sulfide nanoparticles on a solid substrate was first developed. This initial setup is related to the magnetic bead assay reported by Wang et al. 7 Semiconductor CdS, ZnS, and PbS nanoparticles were synthesized, 7 and TEM images of these particles reveal relatively monodisperse particles with an average diameter of 3 nm for CdS and 5 nm for PbS nanoparticles. The three different particles were each conjugated with 5′-thiolated DNA reporter sequences r1, r2, and r3. AFM analysis of the DNA-conjugated CdS and PbS nanoparticles on a mica surface revealed sizes of predominantly 5-10 and 10-15 nm, respectively (see Supporting Information). For binding of the nanoparticles to a solid substrate, a capture assay was prepared by immobilization of 5′-thiolated DNA capture sequences c1, c2, and c3 on a gold substrate, which was subse- quently treated with hexanethiol (Figure 1A). 10 The gold substrate was simply a flattened piece of gold wire with a surface area of approximately 0.5 cm 2 . The capture sequences c1-3 contain 15 bp regions complementary to the reporter sequences r1-3, respec- tively. In the experiment illustrated in Figure 1A, all three capture sequences are immobilized on the same gold substrate and subjected to a solution containing all three nanoparticle DNA conjugates. After a thorough washing procedure, the metal sulfide nanoparticles on the gold substrate were dissolved by adding 0.10 M HNO 3 . Identification and quantification of the dissolved metals were performed by anodic stripping voltammetry (Figure 1B). This technique provides well-resolved signals for each of the three metal traces. The sequence specificity and absence of nonspecific binding was demonstrated in a similar experiment with only one capture DNA sequence, c3, immobilized on gold substrates. Each of three substrates was treated with CdS-r1, ZnS-r2, and PbS-r3 conjugates, and only Pb was detected in the subsequent stripping analyses (Figure 1C). Similar selectivity was observed for the other metals using the corresponding sequences of the capture probes. This type of nanoparticle assay is applicable for DNA sequence detection in a competition setup, as shown in Figure 2A. CdS-r1 and PbS-r3 conjugates were immobilized on the gold substrate by hybridization with c1 and c3 as described above. The presence of both nanoparticle species at the surface was verified by stripping analysis (Figure 2B). Addition of a competing nucleotide target t3 (50 fmol) consisting of a 20 bp sequence complementary to the r3 sequence and stirring for 5-6 h led to dissociation of PbS from the surface. This was verified by the absence of the Pb signal in the anodic stripping voltammetry recorded after washing the substrate and dissolving the nanoparticles at the surface (Figure 2C). The c3-r3 15 bp duplex is apparently ousted by the stronger interaction between the 20 bp t3-r3 duplex, while CdS-r1 remains immobilized at the surface. We also assume that hybridization of the single stranded r3 sequences on the immobilized PbS nano- † Department of Chemistry. ‡ Department of Physics and Astronomy. Figure 1. Capturing of nanoparticle-DNA conjugates CdS-r1, ZnS- r2, and PbS-r3 by hybridization to the three complementary sequences c1, c2, and c3 immobilized on a gold surface (A). Anodic stripping voltammetry analysis of the nanoparticles captured at the surface after washing and dissolution of the metals (B). Anodic stripping voltammetry analysis of three surfaces containing only capture sequence c3 after incubation with CdS-r1 (red), ZnS-r2 (green), and PbS-r3 (blue), respectively (C). Published on Web 03/07/2006 3860 9 J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2006, 128, 3860-3861 10.1021/ja0574116 CCC: $33.50 © 2006 American Chemical Society