D-(+)-galactose-conjugated single-walled carbon nanotubes as new chemical probes for electrochemical biosensors for the cancer marker galectin-3

Abstract

D-(+)-Galactose-conjugated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were synthesized for use as biosensors to detect the cancer marker galectin-3. To investigate the binding of galectin-3 to the D-(+)-galactose-conjugated SWCNTs, an electrochemical biosensor was fabricated by using molybdenum electrodes. The binding affinities of the conjugated SWCNTs to galectin-3 were quantified using electrochemical sensitivity measurements based on the differences in resistance together with typical I-V characterization. The electrochemical sensitivity measurements of the D-(+)-galactose-conjugated SWCNTs differed significantly between the samples with and without galectin-3. This indicates that D-(+)-galactose-conjugated SWCNTs are potentially useful electrochemical biosensors for the detection of cancer marker galectin-3. © 2011 by the authors.