Molecularly imprinted polymer-based electrochemical biosensor for alpha-synuclein detection in Parkinson´s Disease

A novel and sensitive molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based biosensor was developed for alpha synuclein synaptic neuronal protein detection, a specific Parkinson´s disease (PD) biomarker. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide [1]. The leading neuropathological defining hallmark of PD is the presence of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites mainly composed of aggregates of alpha-synuclein [2]. An early disease diagnosis is essential for an effective treatment application, thus there is an urgent need for finding accurate, reproductible, sensitive, and inexpensive diagnosis tolls. MIP-based biosensors represent cost-effective and easy-to-use solutions for disease biomarker recognition [3]. In this work, methylene blue was combined with alpha-synuclein and applied in situ on the surface of standard carbon screen-printed electrodes through bulk polymerization. This work describes a MIP-based electrochemical biosensor capable of detecting the target template with excellent precision and accuracy using for the first-time methylene blue for sensing alpha-synuclein analyte. The developed MIP-based sensor showed great analytical performance in alpha-synuclein detection, with a linear range from 1 fM to 10 pM based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. To conclude, the developed electrodes were used to detect alpha-synuclein in serum and the selectivity tests were performed against different target molecules.