Detection of Leukemic Cells by using Jacalin as the Biorecognition Layer: A New Strategy for the Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells

The possibility of early cancer diagnosis has inspired the development of electrochemical systems that could improve both cell detection and activity monitoring, especially for circulating tumor cells. In this study, we propose an impedimetric leukemia sensor based on the use of immobilized jacalin, which is a lectin overexpressed in most types of human cancers. The biosensor is prepared through the chemical adsorption of (3-aminopropil)trimetoxisilano on indium tin oxide electrodes, followed by immersion in a jacalin solution. The performance of the jacalin-modified electrodes toward monocytic leukemic cells, THP-1, and myeloblastic leukemic cells, OCI-AMI3, was investigated through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Our results revealed that, upon using the jacalin biorecognition layer, the sensors were able to differentiate leukemic cells from healthy monocyte cells, even at low percentage ranges, with limits of detection of 4 +/- 1cells mL(-1) for OCI-AMI3 and 3 +/- 1cells mL(-1) for THP-1.