Top-Down Fabricated Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Field-Effect Detection of Prostate-Specific Antigen

[Image: see text] Highly sensitive electrical detection of biomarkers for the early stage screening of cancer is desired for future, ultrafast diagnostic platforms. In the case of prostate cancer (PCa), the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is of prime interest and its detection in combination with other PCa-relevant biomarkers in a multiplex approach is advised. Toward this goal, we demonstrate the label-free, potentiometric detection of PSA with silicon nanowire ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (Si NW-ISFET) arrays. To realize the field-effect detection, we utilized the DNA aptamer-receptors specific for PSA, which were covalently and site-specifically immobilized on Si NW-ISFETs. The platform was used for quantitative detection of PSA and the change in threshold voltage of the Si NW-ISEFTs was correlated with the concentration of PSA. Concentration-dependent measurements were done in a wide range of 1 pg/mL to 1 μg/mL, which covers the clinical range of interest. To confirm the PSA–DNA aptamer binding on the Si NW surfaces, a sandwich-immunoassay based on chemiluminescence was implemented. The electrical approach using the Si NW-ISFET platform shows a lower limit of detection and a wide dynamic range of the assay. In future, our platform should be utilized to detect multiple biomarkers in one assay to obtain more reliable information about cancer-related diseases.