A novel label-free terbium(iii)-aptamer based aptasensor for ultrasensitive and highly specific detection of acute lymphoma leukemia cells

Acute leukemia is a malignant clonal disease of hematopoietic stem cells with a high prevalence and mortality rate. However, there are no efficient tools to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of leukemia. Therefore, development of new methods for the early diagnosis and prevention of leukemia, especially non-invasive diagnosis at the cellular level, is imperative. Here, a label-free signal-on fluorescence aptasensor based on terbium(III)-aptamer (Tb3+-apt) was applied for the detection of leukemia. The aptamer sensitizes the fluorescence of Tb3+ and forms the strong fluorescent Tb3+-apt probe. The target cells, the T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (CCRF-CEM) combined with the Tb3+-apt probe to form the Tb3+-apt–CEM complex, were removed by centrifugation, and the supernatant containing a small amount of the Tb3+-apt probe was detected using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The logarithm of cell concentration showed a good linear relationship (R2 = 0.9881) with the fluorescence signal. The linear range for CCRF-CEM detection was 5–5 × 106 cells per ml, while the detection limit was 5 cells per ml of the binding buffer. Clinical samples were collected from 100 cases, and the specificity and positive rates detected by this method were up to 94% and 90%, respectively. Therefore, a single-stranded DNA-sensitized terbium(III) luminescence method diagnostic was developed which is rapid, sensitive, and economical and can be used for diagnosis of various types of leukemia at the early stage.