Ferrocenyl glycopeptides as electrochemical probes to detect autoantibodies in multiple sclerosis patients' sera.

Glycopeptide analogues of CSF114(Glc), modified at N-terminus with new ferrocenyl carboxylic acid and a new ferrocenyl-thiphosphino amino acid, were used to implement a new electrochemical biosensor for autoantibody detection in multiple sclerosis. The ferrocenyl moiety of these "electrochemical probes" did not affect autoantibody recognition both in SP-ELISA and in inhibition experiments. By electrochemical monitoring the interactions of the modified peptides Fc-CSF114(Glc) and 4-FcPhP(S)Abu-CSF114(Glc) with the autoantibodies, we demonstrated that autoantibodies could be detected with a sensitivity comparable to ELISA method.