Exploiting nano-iron binding with aptamers for the specific sensing of cancer biomarkers in the terahertz frequencies

The quantitative measurement of cancer biomarkers based on aptamer-protein binding plays an important role in early cancer diagnosis. Conventional aptamer-based optical biosensing utilizes gold nanoparticles for aptamer modification. The use of iron nanoparticles can simplify the detection procedure due to its magnetic response. Here, we explore the use of ferrotetroxide nanoparticles for the modification of MUC-1-targeting aptamers. Mixtures with aptamer concentration ranging from 0 nM to 1000 nM were measured on a previously reported metamaterial structure. The results suggest that ferrotetroxide nanoparticles can successfully bind with aptamers with enhanced sensitivity in the terahertz frequencies.