Molecularly imprinted polyvinylbenzoic acid based sensor for highly sensitive detection of acute lymphoblastic leukemia biomarker

According to data from the World Health Organization, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) constitutes approximately 80% of leukemia cases in pediatric populations and 20% in adults. The diagnosis of leukemia is predominantly established via hematological analyses and bone marrow biopsies; however, these diagnostic approaches present several inherent limitations and challenges. This study, a novel electrochemical sensor modified with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the highly sensitive and selective detection of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a clinically relevant biomarker, with the goal of facilitating early and straightforward diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A PEP-specific molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor was fabricated via a UV-induced photopolymerization process, employing p-vinylbenzoic acid (VBA) as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linking agent. The resulting polymer was subsequently immobilized onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The developed sensor, that was PEP/VBA@MIP-GCE, demonstrated remarkable sensitivity, achieving a limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 2.24 × 10^–13 M—6.80 × 10^–13 M in standard solutions and 1.56 × 10^–13 M—4.72 × 10^–13 M in commercial human serum. Furthermore, the sensor exhibited a linear response within the concentration range of 1.0 × 10^⁻12 M to 1.0 × 10^⁻11 M. Additionally, high recovery values of 100.36% and 100.97% obtained from commercial human serum samples support the reliability of the sensor. The sensor exhibited a selective analytical performance in the presence of potential interfering substances, underscoring its precision (RSD%: 0.153–1.648) and accuracy (RSD%: 0.048–0.877). This work proposes a novel and first implementation of electrochemical sensing platforms incorporating a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the detection of PEP, offering a low-cost and efficient strategy suitable for clinical diagnostic applications and pharmaceutical analysis.