Highly Efficient Gold Nano-Flower Optical Biosensor Doped in a Sol–Gel/PEG Matrix for the Determination of a Calcitonin Biomarker in Different Serum Samples
Walaa E. Omer, Maged El‐Kemary, Mostafa M. Elsaady, Mona N. Abou-Omar, Ahmed O. Youssef, Ali Sayqal, Ayman A. Gouda, Mohamed S. Attia
Abstract
= 333 nm in acetonitrile solvent. The sensing mechanism was based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The remarkable quenching of the fluorescence intensity at 360 nm of optical sensor by various concentrations of calcitonin was successfully used as an optical biosensor for the assessment of calcitonin for different serum samples of patients with medullar thyroid carcinoma. The calibration plot was prepared for the concentration range 0.01-1000 pg/mL of calcitonin with a correlation coefficient of 0.99 and a detection limit of 0.707 pg/mL. The suggested method augments the sensitivity of calcitonin as a useful biomarker for the early diagnosis of medullar thyroid carcinoma. This method is considered as a gateway for the construction of a new prototype for the follow-up of thyroid cancer in the spinal cord during and after treatment.