10.57647/jnsc.2026.1601.04

Gold Nanoisland Microelectrode Micro-Aptamer Sensor with SWASV Readout for EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer Exosomes

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  • Wenxin Yuan1,2,
  • Sicong Jiang1,2,
  • Chenghong Mao3,
  • Jiaru Jiang4,
  • Ke Zhang5,
  • Dongmei Lin6,
  • Jianjun Tang*1,2,
  1. The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
  2. China-Japan Friendship Jiangxi Hospital, National Regional Center for Respiratory Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
  3. Department of Clinical Medicine, South Central MinZu University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
  4. Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Loudi Central Hospital, Loudi, Hunan, China
  5. Department of Pathology, Jiangxi Cancer Hospital ＆Institute, Jiangxi Clinical Research Center for Cancer, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
  6. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Qingpu District Central Hospital, Shanghai, China Wenxin Yuan and Sicong Jiang contributed equally to this work

Received: 29-10-2025

Revised: 20-11-2025

Accepted: 02-12-2025

Published in Issue 28-02-2026

Copyright (c) 2026 Wenxin Yuan, Sicong Jiang, Chenghong Mao, Jiaru Jiang, Ke Zhang, Dongmei Lin, Jianjun Tang (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Yuan, W., Jiang, S., Mao, C., Jiang, J., Zhang, K., Lin, D., & Tang, J. (2026). Gold Nanoisland Microelectrode Micro-Aptamer Sensor with SWASV Readout for EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer Exosomes. Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry, 16(1 (February 2026). https://doi.org/10.57647/jnsc.2026.1601.04
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Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) requires highly sensitive liquid biopsy tools capable of detecting EGFR driven disease and resistance mutations such as T790M, which often evade conventional circulating free DNA assays. Exosomes provide a more reliable biomarker due to their abundance, stability, and enrichment of tumor specific EGFR cargo. Here, we report an ultrasensitive electrochemical microaptasensor specifically designed for the quantitative detection of EGFR positive lung cancer exosomes. The innovation of this work lies in the integration of a thermally dewetted gold nanoisland microelectrode (AuNI ME) which offers a large and Au(111) enriched electroactive surface for high density aptamer immobilization. Additionally, the system utilizes a dual aptamer AND gate recognition strategy using EGFR and CD63 aptamers to ensure exceptional specificity along with a cadmium sulfide quantum dot (CdS QD) amplification system quantified via square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). This multi tiered amplification architecture combines nanostructured electrode design, orthogonal dual aptamer recognition, and QD based metal ion amplification to result in a remarkably low limit of detection of 150 particles/mL. This performance outperforms ELISA, NTA, and recent electrochemical exosome assays. The sensor exhibits excellent selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, and demonstrates high recovery ranging from 97.8% to 105.0% in spiked human serum samples. These results highlight the translational potential of this platform as a noninvasive tool for early NSCLC diagnosis and real time therapeutic monitoring.

Keywords

  • EGFR-positive exosomes,
  • Electrochemical aptasensor,
  • Gold nanoislands,
  • Lung cancer detection,
  • Square wave anodic stripping voltammetry
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