Impedimetric and Plasmonic Sensing of Collagen I Using a Half-Antibody-Supported, Au-Modified, Self-Assembled Monolayer System

This research presents an electrochemical immunosensor for collagen I detection using a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and covalently immobilized half-reduced monoclonal antibody as a receptor; this allowed for the validation of the collagen I concentration through two different independent methods: electrochemically by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and optically by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). The high unique advantage of the proposed sensor is based on the performance of the stable covalent immobilization of the AuNPs and enzymatically reduced half-IgG collagen I antibodies, which ensured their appropriate orientation onto the sensor’s surface, good stability, and sensitivity properties. The detection of collagen type I was performed in a concentration range from 1 to 5 pg/mL. Moreover, SPR was utilized to confirm the immobilization of the monoclonal half-antibodies and sensing of collagen I versus time. Furthermore, EIS experiments revealed a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.38 pg/mL. The selectivity of the performed immunosensor was confirmed by negligible responses for BSA. The performed approach of the immunosensor is a novel, innovative attempt that enables the detection of collagen I with very high sensitivity in the range of pg/mL, which is significantly lower than the commonly used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).