A sensitive electrochemical sensor for detection of c-Myc protein leveraging dual-function of gold–palladium alloy nanoparticles

The concentration fluctuations of cellular-myelocytomatosis oncogene (c-Myc) protein may be related to a variety of tumors such as lymphoma, therefore, detection of abnormal trace-level changes is of great significance for early predictions. Conventional detection methods suffer from time-consuming analytical processes and insufficient sensitivity. Thus, the development of a sensitive detection method for c-Myc protein in blood is particularly crucial. We developed an electrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection of c-Myc protein based on gold–palladium alloy nanoparticles (AuPd NPs), leveraging its dual-function for both electrode modification and signal tag. Specifically, AuPd NPs were rapidly formed on the electrode surface by electrodeposition techniques to anchor the capture antibodies (Ab I ), which can increase the conductivity and load capacity of the electrode. Subsequently, using toluidine blue (TB) as a reducing agent, TB-AuPd was synthesized in one step, and further utilized to anchor the detection antibodies (Ab II ), which improved the load quantity and electrocatalytic activity of TB. When the target was present, the sandwich sensor was successfully constructed, benefiting from dual amplifications to achieve sensitive detection of c-Myc protein. Eventually, the proposed sensor exhibited a wider linear range (1–1000 pg mL −1 ) and a lower detection limit (0.5 pg mL −1 , S/N = 3). The developed method demonstrated strong concordance with commercially available ELISA kits, with no statistically significant difference observed in detection results. Thus, the proposed sensor realized sensitive detection of c-Myc protein, and can render valuable guidance for prospective clinical test applications.