Phosphoproteins Identification on Stretchable Photonic Crystal for Cervical Cancer Assessment

Cervical cancer is one of the diseases that threaten women's health. Early screening and assessment are crucial for disease intervention and treatment. However, existing diagnostic technologies generally have problems such as invasive, high cost, and complex operation, which limit their widespread application in clinical early screening. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a rapid, low-cost, minimally invasive, and highly sensitive method for cervical cancer assessment. Protein phosphorylation levels show specific dynamic changes at different stages of cervical cancer development. Herein, we report a phosphoprotein identification method based on a stretchable photonic crystal. Three fluorescent probes were loaded onto the stretchable photonic crystal that constructed a cross-response sensor. The photonic bandgap was dynamically regulated by mechanical stretching to match with the emission wavelengths of the multiple probes, thereby enhancing fluorescence and amplifying signal differences. Without the need for additional probe synthesis and labeling, our strategy can accurately pinpoint the stage of cervical cancer development based on serum samples, with an accuracy rate of up to 94%. This study provides a simple, efficient, and clinically promising detection method for the assessment of cervical cancer.