Confounding effects on the response of electrochemical aptamer-based biosensors

Electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) biosensors have achieved a significant feat in bioanalytical chemistry: afford sub-second continuous molecular measurements directly in the body. The seminal publication on E-AB sensors reported that these electrochemical systems comprise three components: (1) an alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer on a gold electrode surface; (2) a redox reporter; and (3) an aptamer recognition element. While E-AB sensors signaling has been postulated to occur via an aptamer binding-induced change in the electron transfer rate of the redox reporter, other components could contribute to the measured signals. Here, we thus decided to explore possible confounding effects on the response of such E-AB sensors' architecture. We also briefly review the necessary tools to decipher each confounding effects to support that signaling originates from aptamer binding with the hopes to accelerate the development of new E-AB biosensors.