Comparison of biosensor platforms for surface plasmon resonance based detection of paralytic shellfish toxins

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins are produced by certain marine dinoflagellates and may accumulate in bivalve molluscs through filter feeding. The Mouse Bioassay (MBA) is the internationally recognised reference method of analysis, but it is prone to technical difficulties and regarded with increasing disapproval due to ethical reasons. As such, alternative methods are required. A rapid surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor inhibition assay was developed to detect PSP toxins in shellfish by employing a saxitoxin polyclonal antibody (R895). Using an assay developed for and validated on the Biacore Q biosensor system, this project focused on transferring the assay to a high-throughput, Biacore T100 biosensor in another laboratory. This was achieved using a prototype PSP toxin kit and recommended assay parameters based on the Biacore Q method. A monoclonal antibody (GT13A) was also assessed. Even though these two instruments are based on SPR principles, they vary widely in their mode of operation including differences in the integrated μ-fluidic cartridges, autosampler system, and sensor chip compatibilities. Shellfish samples (n = 60), extracted using a simple, rapid procedure, were analysed using each platform, and results were compared to AOAC high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and MBA methods. The overall agreement, based on statistical 2 × 2 comparison tables, between each method ranged from 85% to 94.4% using R895 and 77.8% to 100% using GT13A. The results demonstrated that the antibody based assays with high sensitivity and broad specificity to PSP toxins can be applied to different biosensor platforms.     

广东省西南部沿海三市的翡翠贻贝、虾米、蠔中矿物质元素的研究

用火焰原子分光光度法测定了广东省阳江、茂名、湛江三地的翡翠贻贝、虾米、生蠔中的11种矿物质元素含量。结果表明,这三种水产品是优质食品,富含对人体有益的营养元素,具有较高营养价值。