Brilliant cresyl blue as electroactive indicator in electrochemical DNA oligonucleotide sensors

A new electrochemical DNA biosensor is presented based on carbon past electrode (CPE) for immobilization and detection of short DNA sequences with brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) as electroactive label. The interaction of BCB with DNA is electrochemically detected and BCB displays different signals in the interaction to ssDNA and dsDNA and variation in the BCB signal represents the extent of hybridization at the electrode surface. The effect of solution pH on electrochemical behavior of BCB was investigated. Additionally, the effect of solution pH on BCB accumulation on the CPE was studied. Furthermore, experiments showed that the solution pH could influence the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) signal of BCB accumulated on the electrode and the highest BCB signal was obtained in pH 7.00. The effect of electrochemical pretreatment of CPE on the ability of electrode in probe adsorption, BCB accumulation and conditions of probe immobilization including potential and time was investigated and optimum conditions were suggested. The peak currents of BCB were linearly related to the concentration of the target oligonucleotide sequence in the range of 1.0 × 10− 8 to 5.0 × 10− 6 M. The detection limit of this approach was 9.00 nM. The selectivity of the biosensor was studied using noncomplementary oligonucleotide.