Gold nanoparticle-functionalized carbon nanotubes (AuNP-CNT) have been prepared by a novel self-assembly method. The new material has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and utilized for constructing AuNP-CNT-modified pyrolytic graphite electrode (AuNP-CNT/PGE) to investigate the electrochemical behavior of L-dopa in neutral phosphate buffer solution. Compared to bare PG electrode, AuNP-CNT/PGE shows novel properties towards the electrochemical redox of L-dopa in phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0. The oxidation potential of L-dopa shows a significant decrease at the AuNP-CNT/PGE. The oxidation current of L-dopa is about 5-fold higher than that of the unmodified PGE. Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method, the oxidation current is well linear with L-dopa concentration in the range of 0.1-150 mu M, with a detection limit of about 50 nM (S/N = 3). The proposed electrode can also effectively avoid the interference of ascorbic acid and uric acid, making the proposed sensor suitable for the accurate determination of L-dopa in both pharmaceutical preparations and human body fluids. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.