Molecularly imprinted polymer-based FET biosensor for oligosaccharides sensing to target cancer cells

Semiconductor-based biosensors are suitable for the detection of small molecules such as saccharides as long as they have molecular charges. In this study, we developed molecularly imprinted polymer-based field effect transistor (MIP-gate FET) for selective sugar chain sensing in aqueous media. Choosing 3'-sialyl lactose (3'-SLac) and 6'-sialyl lactose (6'-SLac) as target sugars, we confirmed that they could be sensed quantitatively from 10uM. Moreover, the sensor showed selectivity to some extent, where the signal from competent was suppressed by 40% at maximum. We also found that the selectivity enhanced by MIP differs for 2 different template sugars, although these sugars are similar in structures. Moreover, the selective detection of other oligosaccharides was investigated using the MIP-gate FET. From these results, we showed the possibility of MIP-gate FET as selective sugar detecting sensor, which can be applied widely in medical fields.