Harnessing protein sensing ability of electrochemical biosensors via a controlled peptide receptor–electrode interface

BACKGROUND: Cathepsin B, a cysteine protease, is considered a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. Therefore, more feasible and effective diagnostic method may be beneficial for monitoring of cancer or related diseases. RESULTS: A phage-display library was biopanned against biotinylated cathepsin B to identify a high-affinity peptide with the sequence WDMWPSMDWKAE. The identified peptide-displaying phage clones and phage-free synthetic peptides were characterized using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and electrochemical analyses (impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and square wave voltammetry). Feasibilities of phage-on-a-sensor, peptide-on-a-sensor, and peptide-on-a-AuNPs/MXene sensor were evaluated. The limit of detection and binding affinity values of the peptide-on-a-AuNPs/MXene sensor interface were two to four times lower than those of the two other sensors, indicating that the peptide-on-a-AuNPs/MXene sensor is more specific for cathepsin B (good recovery (86–102%) and %RSD (< 11%) with clinical samples, and can distinguish different stages of Crohn’s disease. Furthermore, the concentration of cathepsin B measured by our sensor showed a good correlation with those estimated by the commercially available ELISA kit. CONCLUSION: In summary, screening and rational design of high-affinity peptides specific to cathepsin B for developing peptide-based electrochemical biosensors is reported for the first time. This study could promote the development of alternative antibody-free detection methods for clinical assays to test inflammatory bowel disease and other diseases. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-023-01843-0.