Europium (III) Incorporated Bovine Serum Albumin Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters as Fluorescent Probes for the Detection of Sarcosine, a Prostate Cancer Biomarker

A new fluorescent probe based on Eu (III) incorporated BSA-AuNCs is developed for the selective sensing of sarcosine. Sarcosine is a simple non-proteinogenic amino acid which is a clinical biomarker for prostate cancer. The non-invasive sensing of a metabolite biomarker sarcosine for prostate cancer from urine sample was achieved through the developed Eu (III) incorporated BSA-AuNCs probe. The developed sensor exhibited a good sensitivity and selectivity towards the metabolite sarcosine and observed no significant interference with other coexisting metabolites present in urine. The probe shows a very lower Limit of detection (LOD) of 0.177 mM and this probe can be developed for determining sarcosine on clinical basis. Considering its predominance and the pain associated invasive prostate cancer clinical examinations for the diagnosis, a non-invasive diagnosis is of great need and significance.