Femtomolar sensing of Alzheimer's tau proteins by water oxidation-coupled photoelectrochemical platform

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. A key pathogenic event of AD is the formation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles that are mainly composed of tau proteins. Here, we report on ultrasensitive detection of total tau (t-tau) proteins using an artificial electron donor-free, BiVO4-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) analysis. The platform was constructed by incorporating molybdenum (Mo) dopant and iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) ad-layer into the BiVO4 photoelectrode and employing a signal amplifier formed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-triggered oxidation of 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB). Despite the absence of additional electron suppliers, the FeOOH/Mo:BiVO4 conjugated with the Tau5 antibody produced strong current signals at 0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl, 3 M NaCl) under the illumination of a white light-emitting diode. The Mo extrinsic dopants increased the charge carrier density of BiVO4-Tau5 by 1.57 times, and the FeOOH co-catalyst promoted the interfacial water oxidation reaction of Mo:BiVO4-Tau5 by suppressing charge recombination. The introduction of HRP-labeled Tau46 capture antibodies to the FeOOH/Mo:BiVO4-Tau5 platform produced insoluble precipitation on the transducer by accelerating the oxidation of DAB, which amplified the photocurrent signal of FeOOH/Mo:BiVO4-Tau5 by 2.07-fold. Consequently, the water oxidation-coupled, FeOOH/Mo:BiVO4-based PEC sensing platform accurately and selectively recognized t-tau proteins down to femtomolar concentrations; the limit of detection and limit of quantification were determined to be 1.59 fM and 4.11 fM, respectively.