Electrochemical DNA sensor based on methylene blue functionalized polythiophene as a hybridization indicator

A polythiophene functionalized with methylene blue (PMT-MB) was synthesized and used as an indicator for electrochemical oligonucleotides (ODNs) hybridization detection. After hybridization with complementary ODNs, the current signal of PMT-MB increased, which illustrated that PMT-MB can effectively recognize complementary ODN targets as an indicator. Compared to MB, PMT-MB showed much better resistance to the concentration change of buffer solution. In all buffer solutions tested, the hybridization always resulted in the increased current signal of PMT-MB due to the electrostatic interaction. While, when MB was used as an indicator, the inconsistent current response was obtained after the hybridization. When high concentration of buffer solution was used for accumulation, the hybridization resulted in the decreased current signal, while at the low concentrations, the current signal increased. The interaction between PMT-MB and dsODNs was also studied by UV-vis spectroscopy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.