{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T18:22:27Z","timestamp":1776536547394,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,7]],"date-time":"2022-12-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1670371200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia, I.P","award":["2022.09032.PTDC."],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022.09032.PTDC."]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Chemosensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) is a biomarker for breast cancer used to monitor response to treatments and disease recurrence. The present work demonstrates the preparation and application of a fluorescent biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of the cancer antigen CA 15-3 protein tumor marker using mercaptopropionic-acid-functionalized cadmium telluride (CdTe@MPA) quantum dots (QDs) conjugated with CA 15-3 antibodies. First, the QDs were synthesized by the hydrothermal route, resulting in spherical nanoparticles up to 3.50 nm in diameter. Subsequently, the QD conjugates were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV absorption, and fluorescence. The interaction between the conjugates and the protein was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy in buffer and in 10-fold diluted commercial human serum. Calibration in spiked serum samples gave a detection limit of 0.027 U\/mL, 1000-fold lower than the clinical limit for CA 15-3 (25 U\/mL to 30 U\/mL), indicating that this is an ultrasensitive technique. In addition, a rapid response was obtained within 10 min. The biosensor was selective in the presence of the interfering serum proteins BSA, CEA, and CA-125, with a maximum interference of 2% for BSA. The percent recovery was close to 100% with maximum relative standard deviation (RSD%) values of 1.56. Overall, the developed CA 15-3 biosensor provides a simple and sensitive method for ultrasensitive monitoring of breast cancer, as well as the ability to detect other molecules of interest in human serum matrices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/chemosensors10120518","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,8]],"date-time":"2022-12-08T02:51:56Z","timestamp":1670467916000},"page":"518","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["New Quantum-Dot-Based Fluorescent Immunosensor for Cancer Biomarker Detection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Mariana P.","family":"Sousa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"BioMark\/ISEP, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CEB\u2014Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"Laboratory of Medical and Industrial Biotechnology (LaBMI), Porto Research, Technology and Innovation Center (PORTIC), Porto Polytechnic Institute, 4785-999 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Margarida L.","family":"Piloto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BioMark\/ISEP, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CEB\u2014Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Cl\u00e1udia","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Medical and Industrial Biotechnology (LaBMI), Porto Research, Technology and Innovation Center (PORTIC), Porto Polytechnic Institute, 4785-999 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Fernando C.","family":"Schmitt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CINTESIS@RISE, Health Research Network, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"IPATIMUP\u2014Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8933-3984","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ruben","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Medical and Industrial Biotechnology (LaBMI), Porto Research, Technology and Innovation Center (PORTIC), Porto Polytechnic Institute, 4785-999 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CINTESIS@RISE, Health Research Network, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"FP-I3ID, FP-BHS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hospital Fernando Pessoa, University Fernando Pessoa, 4200-150 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4237-8952","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felismina T. C.","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BioMark\/ISEP, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CEB\u2014Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4920","DOI":"10.1021\/acsanm.0c01386","article-title":"Quantum Dots and Their Applications: What Lies Ahead?","volume":"3","author":"Cotta","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Nano Mater."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Chung, E.J., Leon, L., and Rinaldi, C. (2020). Quantum Dots. Micro and Nano Technologies, Elsevier. Chapter 15."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Mohan Bhagyaraj, S., Oluwafemi, O.S., Kalarikkal, N., and Thomas, S. (2018). Quantum Nanostructures (QDs): An Overview. Micro and Nano Technologies, Woodhead Publishing. 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