A novel QDs electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for the determination of thrombin was described. The CdSe QDs solution was dripped onto the clear surface of the ITO and then immersed in PBS which contained EDC and NHS as a coupling agent to activate the carboxyl-terminated surface of the CdSe QDs. The ITO electrode was immersed in the PBS containing 0.4 mu M aptamer, followed by rinsing with PBS and dried with N-2 again, then dipped in the BSA solution for 30 min to decrease the non-specific binding. After that, the aptamer modified ITO was soaked in PBS to remove unbound aptamer. Under optimal conditions, the linear range was obtained from 0 to 64 mu g mL(-1) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9986 (n =16). The control experiment was also carried out by using BSA, lysozyme and IgG in the absence of thrombin. The results showed that the aptasensor had good specificity, stability and reproducibility to the thrombin. Moreover, the aptasensor could be used for detection of real sample with consistent results in comparison with those obtained by electrochemical method which could provide a promising platform for fabrication of aptamer based biosensors. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.