Ultrasensitive and highly specific detection of two gastric cancer biomarkers using glass microsensor based on silica nanowires-dual probes

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. miRNA-106a is a small non-coding RNA that is significantly up-regulated in GC cells. CD44 protein serves as a cell adhesion molecule in GC, and its high expression is associated with tumor invasiveness and metastatic potential. Detection of these two biomarkers for GC can significantly improve the sensitivity and specificity of tests, thus identifying patients more accurately and facilitating early diagnosis and intervention. In this study, we proposed a bottom-up assembly method of silica nanowires (SiNWs) modified glass microtube to construct a glass microsensor based on the functionalization of SiNWs-dual probes (SiNWs@DGM), which can be used for the simultaneous detection of the two gastric cancer markers mentioned above in a highly sensitive and specific manner. The detection limit of the sensor is as low as 1 aM for the target miRNA-106a and 1 pg/mL for CD44 protein. The constructed SiNWs@DGM demonstrates excellent selectivity, high anti-interference ability, specificity, and good storage stability in sample analysis without any amplification. Therefore, our biosensing strategy can reduce false positive and false negative results, providing more reliable support for gastric cancer management and ultimately improving patient prognosis and survival rates.