Disposable Immunosensor for Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Based on a Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Sodium Alginate Nanocomposite Film Modified Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode

A disposable immunosensor for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 based on a multiwalled carbon nanotube–sodium alginate nanocomposite film was constructed. The nanocomposite was placed on a screen-printed carbon electrode, and horseradish peroxidase-labeled antibodies were immobilized to E. coli O157:H7 on the modified electrode to construct the immunosensor. The modification procedure was characterized by atomic force microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Under optimal conditions, the proposed immunosensor exhibited good electrochemical sensitivity to E. coli O157:H7 in a concentration range of 10³–10¹⁰ cfu/mL, with a relatively low detection limit of 2.94 × 10² cfu/mL (S/N = 3). This immunosensor exhibited satisfactory specificity, reproducibility, stability, and accuracy, making it a potential alternative tool for early assessment of E. coli O157:H7.     

Bacteriophage-amplified bioluminescent sensing of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> O157:H7

Escherichia coli O157:H7 remains a continuous public health threat, appearing in meats, water, fruit juices, milk, cheese, and vegetables, where its ingestion at concentrations of perhaps as low as 10 to 100 organisms can result in potent toxin exposure and severe damage to the lining of the intestine. Abdominal pain and diarrhea develop, which in the very young or elderly can progress towards hemolytic uremic syndrome and kidney failure. To assist in the detection of E. coli O157:H7, a recombinant bacteriophage reporter was developed that uses quorum sensing (luxI/luxR) signaling and luxCDABE-based bioluminescent bioreporter sensing to specifically and autonomously respond to O157:H7 serotype E. coli. The bacteriophage reporter, derived from phage PP01, was tested in artificially contaminated foodstuffs including apple juice, tap water, ground beef, and spinach leaf rinsates. In apple juice, detection of E. coli O157:H7 at original inoculums of 1 CFU mL⁻¹ occurred within approximately 16 h after a 6-h pre-incubation, detection of 1 CFU mL⁻¹ in tap water occurred within approximately 6.5 h after a 6-h pre-incubation, and detection in spinach leaf rinsates using a real-time Xenogen IVIS imaging system resulted in detection of 1 CFU mL⁻¹ within approximately 4 h after a 2-h pre-incubation. Detection in ground beef was not successful, however, presumably due to the natural occurrence of quorum sensing autoinducer (N-3-(oxohexanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone; OHHL), which generated false-positive bioreporter signals in the ground beef samples.     

Chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on a strip to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7

A fast and sensitive chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method to measure pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7, on immuno-chromatographic membrane was studied. Non-specific binding of proteins on membrane strip was controlled to attain the best performance of immunosensor by optimising the composition of a running buffer. The specificity of the proposed immunostrip was confirmed by conducting experiments for four different micro-organisms. A chemiluminescent signal could be successfully generated from a proposed immunostrip sensing system, and a significant change in the chemiluminescent light intensity with the concentration of target microbes was obtained. E. coli O157:H7 could be quantitatively measured in the range of 1.1?×?10^3?–1.1?×?10⁷ CFU (colony forming units) mL^?1 within 16?min by using the developed chemiluminescent immunostrip.     

First detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in shellfish and coastal environments of Morocco

Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC), also called verotoxin-producing E. coli, is a major cause of food-borne illness, capable of causing hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic–uremic syndrome (HUS). This study was carried out to evaluate the presence of (STEC) and E. coli O157:H7 in shellfish and Mediterranean coastal environments of Morocco. The contamination of shellfish and marine environment with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and E. coli O157:H7, was investigated during 2007 and 2008. A total of 619 samples were analyzed and 151 strains of E. coli were isolated. The presence of the stx1, stx2, and eae genes was tested in E. coli isolates strains using a triplex polymerase chain reaction. STEC was detected in three positives samples (1.9%), corresponding to the serotype O157:H7, the others Shiga toxin-producing E. coli non-O157 were also detected.     

An antibody microarray,in multiwell plate format,for multiplex screening of foodborne pathogenic bacteria and biomolecules

Intoxication and infection caused by foodborne pathogens are important problems worldwide, and screening tests for multiple pathogens are needed because foods may be contaminated with multiple pathogens and/or toxic metabolites. We developed a 96-well microplate, multiplex antibody microarray method to simultaneously capture and detect Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium), as well as a biomolecule (chicken immunoglobulin G or IgG employed as a proteinaceous toxin analog) in a single sample. Microarrayed spots of capture antibodies against the targeted analytes were printed within individual wells of streptavidin-coated polystyrene 96-multiwell microtiter plates and a sandwich assay with fluorescein- or Cy3-labeled reporter antibodies was used for detection. (Printing was achieved with a conventional microarray printing robot that was operated with custom-developed microplate arraying software.) Detection of the IgG was realized from ca. 5 to 25 ng/mL, and detection of E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium was realized from ca. 10⁶ to 10⁹ and ca. 10⁷ to 10⁹ cells/mL, respectively. Multiplex detection of the two bacteria and the IgG in buffer and in culture-enriched ground beef filtrate was established with a total assay (including detection) time of ca. 2.5 h. Detection of S. typhimurium was largely unaffected by high concentrations of the other bacteria and IgG as well as the ground beef filtrate, whereas a small decrease in response was observed for E. coli O157:H7. The multiwell plate, multiplex antibody microarray platform developed here demonstrates a powerful approach for high-throughput screening of large numbers of food samples for multiple pathogens and toxins.     

Dual gold nanoparticle lateflow immunoassay for sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7

Two patterns of signal amplification lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which used anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked gold nanoparticle (AuNP) for dual AuNP-LFIA were developed. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was selected as the model analyte. In the signal amplification direct LFIA method, anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked AuNP (anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP) was mixed with sample solution in an ELISA well, after which it was added to LFIA, which already contained anti-E. coli O157:H7 monoclonal antibody-AuNP (anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP) dispersed in the conjugate pad. Polyclonal antibody was the test line, and anti-mouse secondary antibody was the control line in nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. In the signal amplification indirect LFIA method, anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP was mixed with sample solution and anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP complex in ELISA well, creating a dual AuNP complex. This complex was added to LFIA, which had a polyclonal antibody as the test line and secondary antibody as the control line in NC membrane. The detection sensitivity of both LFIAs improved 100-fold and reached 1.14 × 10³ CFU mL⁻¹. The 28 nm and 45 nm AuNPs were demonstrated to be the optimal dual AuNP pairs. Signal amplification LFIA was perfectly applied to the detection of milk samples with E. coli O157:H7 via naked eye observation.     

Binding Characteristics Study of DNA based Aptamers for E. coli O157:H7

E. coli O157:H7 is a pathogenic bacterium producing verotoxins that could lead to serious complications such as hemolytic uremia syndrome. Fast detection of such pathogens is important. For rapid detection, aptamers are quickly gaining traction as alternative biorecognition molecules besides conventional antibodies. Several DNA aptamers have been selected for E. coli O157:H7. Nonetheless, there has not been a comparative study of the binding characteristics of these aptamers. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis of binding characteristics including binding affinity (K_d) and binding capacity (B_max) of DNA-based aptamers for E. coli O157:H7 using qPCR. Our results show that aptamer E18R has the highest binding capacity to E. coli 157:H7 and the highest specificity over non-pathogenic E. coli strains K12 and DH5α. Our study also finds that the common biotin-tag modification at 5′ end typically changes the binding capacity significantly. For most of the selected aptamers, the binding capacity after a biotin-tag modification decreases. There exists a discrepancy in the binding capability between the selected aptamer and the aptamer used for detection. Our study also shows that a lower concentration of Mg²⁺ ions in the binding buffer leads to a decrease in the binding capacity of E17F and E18R, while it does not affect the binding capacity of S1 and EcoR1.     

Fabrication of an Electrochemical E. coli Biosensor in Biowells Using Bimetallic Nanoparticle‐Labelled Antibodies

An electrochemical biosensor was developed for the determination of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in water. For this purpose, silver‐gold core‐shell (Ag@Au) bioconjugates and anti‐E. coli modified PS‐microwells were designed in a sandwich‐type format in order to obtain higher sensitivity and selectivity. Ag@Au bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized by co‐reduction method. The core‐shell formation was analyzed by using UV‐Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Biotin labeled anti‐E. coli antibodies were coupled with Ag@Au nanoparticles to form bioconjugates. The electrochemical immunosensor was prepared by immobilizing anti‐E. coli on polystyrene (PS)‐microwells via chemical bonding. These modified microwells were identified with X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. E. coli was sandwiched between Ag@Au bioconjugates and anti‐E. coli on PS‐microwells at different concentrations. The relationship between the E. coli concentration and stripping current of gold ions (Au³⁺) were investigated by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry at pencil graphite electrode. The proposed method can provide some advantages such as lower detection limit and shorter detection time. The electrochemical response for the immunosensor was linear with the concentration of the E. coli in the range of 10¹ and 10⁵ cfu/mL with a limit of detection 3 cfu/mL. The procedure maintains good sensitivity and repeatability and also offers utility in the fields of environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis.     

Rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 spiked into food matrices

Food poisoning causes untold discomfort to many people each year. One of the primary culprits in food poisoning is Escherichia coli O157:H7. While most cases cause intestinal discomfort, up to 7% of the incidences lead to a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome which may be fatal. The traditional method for detection of E. coli O157:H7 in cases of food poisoning is to culture the food matrices and/or human stool. Additional performance-based antibody methods are also being used. The NRL array biosensor was developed to detect multiple antigens in multiple samples with little sample pretreatment in under 30 min. An assay for the specific detection of E. coli O157:H7 was developed, optimized and tested with a variety of spiked food matrices in this study. With no sample pre-enrichment, 5 × 10³ cells mL⁻¹ were detected in buffer in less than 30 min. Slight losses of sensitivity (1-5 × 10⁻⁴ cell mL⁻¹⁾ but not specificity occur in the presence of high levels of extraneous bacteria and in various food matrices (ground beef, turkey sausage, carcass wash, and apple juice). No significant difference was observed in the detection of E. coli O157:H7 in typical culture media (Luria Broth and Tryptic Soy Broth).     

Capacitive biosensor for detection of endotoxin

A capacitive biosensor for the detection of bacterial endotoxin has been developed. Endotoxin-neutralizing protein derived from American horseshoe crab was immobilized to a self-assembled thiol layer on a biosensor transducer (Au). Upon injection of a sample containing endotoxin, a decrease in the observed capacitive signal was registered. Endotoxin could be determined under optimum conditions with a detection limit of 1.0 × 10⁻¹³ M and linearity ranging from 1.0 × 10⁻¹³ to 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ M. Good agreement was achieved when applying endotoxin preparations purified from an Escherichia coli cultivation to the capacitive biosensor system, utilizing the conventional method for quantitative endotoxin determination, the Limulus amebocyte lysate test as a reference. The capacitive biosensor method was statistically tested with the Wilcoxon signed rank test, which proved the system is acceptable for the quantitative analysis of bacterial endotoxin (P < 0.05). Figure The flow-injection capacitive biosensor system and the capacitive properties of the transducer surface, where C_SAM is the capacitance change of the self-assembled thiol monolayer, C_P is the capacitance change of the protein layer, C_a is the capacitance change of the analyte layer and C_Total is the total capacitance change measured at the working electrode/solution interface (modified from Limbut et al., 2006. Biosens Bioelectron 22: 233-240)     

Magnetic Nanohybrids Loaded with Bimetal Core–Shell–Shell Nanorods for Bacteria Capture,Separation, and Near‐Infrared Photothermal Treatment

A novel antimicrobial nanohybrid based on near‐infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion is designed for bacteria capture, separation, and sterilization (killing). Positively charged magnetic reduced graphene oxide with modification by polyethylenimine (rGO–Fe₃O₄–PEI) is prepared and then loaded with core–shell–shell Au–Ag–Au nanorods to construct the nanohybrid rGO–Fe₃O₄–Au–Ag–Au. NIR laser irradiation melts the outer Au shell and exposes the inner Ag shell, which facilitates controlled release of the silver shell. The nanohybrids combine physical photothermal sterilization as a result of the outer Au shell with the antibacterial effect of the inner Ag shell. In addition, the nanohybrid exhibits high heat conductivity because of the rGO and rapid magnetic‐separation capability that is attributable to Fe₃O₄. The nanohybrid provides a significant improvement of bactericidal efficiency with respect to bare Au–Ag–Au nanorods and facilitates the isolation of bacteria from sample matrixes. A concentration of 25 μg mL^?1 of nanohybrid causes 100 % capture and separation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (1×10⁸ cfu mL^?1) from an aqueous medium in 10 min. In addition, it causes a 22 °C temperature rise for the surrounding solution under NIR irradiation (785 nm, 50 mW cm^?2) for 10 min. With magnetic separation, 30 μg mL^?1 of nanohybrid results in a 100 % killing rate for E. coli O157:H7 cells. The facile bacteria separation and photothermal sterilization is potentially feasible for environmental and/or clinical treatment.     

A novel fluorescence immunoassay for the sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk based on catalase-mediated fluorescence quenching of CdTe quantum dots

Immunoassay is a powerful tool for rapid detection of food borne pathogens in food safety monitoring. However, conventional immunoassay always suffers from low sensitivity when it employs enzyme-catalyzing chromogenic substrates to generate colored molecules as signal outputs. In the present study, we report a novel fluorescence immunoassay for the sensitive detection of E. coli O157:H7 through combination of the ultrahigh bioactivity of catalase to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and H₂O₂-sensitive mercaptopropionic acid modified CdTe QDs (MPA-QDs) as a signal transduction. Various parameters, including the concentrations of anti-E. coli O157:H7 polyclonal antibody and biotinylated monoclonal antibody, the amounts of H₂O₂ and streptavidin labeled catalase (CAT), the hydrolysis temperature and time of CAT to H₂O₂, as well as the incubation time between H₂O₂ and MPA-QDs, were systematically investigated and optimized. With optimal conditions, the catalase-mediated fluorescence quenching immunoassay exhibits an excellent sensitivity for E. coli O157:H7 with a detection limit of 5 × 10² CFU/mL, which was approximately 140 times lower than that of horseradish peroxidase-based colorimetric immunoassay. The reliability of the proposed method was further evaluated using E. coli O157:H7 spiked milk samples. The average recoveries of E. coli O157:H7 concentrations from 1.18 × 10³ CFU/mL to 1.18 × 10⁶ CFU/mL were in the range of 65.88%–105.6%. In brief, the proposed immunoassay offers a great potential for rapid and sensitive detection of other pathogens in food quality control.     

Chemiluminescence multichannel immunosensor for biodetection

An improved portable detector for biological compounds, the chemiluminescence multichannel immunosensor (CL-MADAG), has been developed and characterised. The device is based on a capillary ELISA technique in combination with a miniaturised fluidics system and uses chemiluminescence as the detection principle. The fluidics system construction allows three chemiluminescence immunoassays to be performed simultaneously within three fused silica capillaries (FSC). The CL-MADAG was characterised in a series of experiments with staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) as a model toxin, the bacterial phage virus M13 as a virus simulant, and a pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli as simulant for bacteria. It was shown that the CL-MADAG can assay liquid samples for these substances within 24 min. The detection limits were 5 ng/ml for SEB, 10⁵ cfu/ml for E. coli O157:H7 and 10⁷ pfu/ml for M13.     

基于多层酶/纳米金固定甲胎蛋白免疫传感器的研究

>利用自组装技术和静电吸附作用, 将甲胎蛋白抗体(anti-AFP)固定在多层辣根过氧化物酶/纳米金及L-半胱胺酸修饰的金电极表面, 制备出用于检测甲胎蛋白抗原(AFP)的无试剂型免疫传感器. 通过交流阻抗技术、循环伏安法和计时电流法考察了电极的电化学特性, 并对该免疫传感器的作用机理及性能进行了详细的研究. 用计时电流法测得AFP的线性范围为1.0～10.0和10～200 ng•mL^－1, 检出限为0.5 ng•mL^－1. 实验结果表明, 该方法提高了抗体的固定量, 增强了传感器的灵敏度和稳定性, 且该传感器响应迅速、选择性好, 血清中常见抗原不干扰测定. 将其用于临床血清检验, 与放射免疫测定法(RIA)的符合率为86.7%.     

Quantum dot-based array for sensitive detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

A fluorescent quantum dot-based antibody array, used in sandwich format, has been developed to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7. Numerous parameters such as solid support, optimal concentration of immunoreagents, blocking reagents, and assay time were optimized for array construction. Quantum dot-conjugated anti-IgG was used as the detecting system. The array allows the detection of E. coli O157:H7 at concentrations below 10 CFU mL⁻¹ without sample enrichment, exhibiting an increase of three orders of magnitude in the limit of detection compared to ELISA. The interference caused by Gram (+) and Gram (−) bacteria was negligible at low concentrations of bacteria.     

A Rapid and Sensitive Aptamer‐Based Electrochemical Biosensor for Direct Detection of Escherichia Coli O111

A sensitive and specific electrochemical biosensor based on target‐induced aptamer displacement was developed for direct detection of Escherichia coli O111. The aptamer for Escherichia coli O111 was immobilized on a gold electrode by hybridization with the capture probe anchored on the electrode surface through Au‐thiol binding. In the presence of Escherichia coli O111, the aptamer was dissociated from the capture probe‐aptamer duplex due to the stronger interaction between the aptamer and the Escherichia coli O111. The consequent single‐strand capture probe could be hybridized with biotinylated detection probe and tagged with streptavidin‐alkaline phosphatase, producing sensitive enzyme‐catalyzed electrochemical response to Escherichia coli O111. The designed biosensor showed weak electrochemical signal to Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and common non‐pathogenic Escherichia coli, indicating high specificity for Escherichia coli O111. Under the optimal conditions, the proposed strategy could directly detect Escherichia coli O111 with the detection limit of 112 CFU mL^?1 in phosphate buffer saline and 305 CFU mL^?1 in milk within 3.5 h, demonstrated the sensitive and accurate quantification of target pathogenic bacteria. The designed biosensor could become a powerful tool for pathogenic microorganisms screening in clinical diagnostics, food safety, biothreat detection and environmental monitoring.     

Simultaneous voltammetric determination of <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">S. typhimurium</Emphasis> based on target recycling amplification using self-assembled hairpin probes on a gold electrode

The authors report on a rapid voltammetric method for simultaneous determination of the pathogens E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium (S. typh.) by detecting the rfbE gene of E. coli O157:H7 and gyrB gene of S. typh., respectively, and by using polymerase-assisted target recycling amplification. The assay was constructed by self-assembly of the respective hairpin probes (labeled with the electrochemical probes Methylene Blue and ferrocene) on the surface of a gold electrode. After hybridization between target DNA and hairpin probes (HPs) has occurred, the primers hybridize with the open-chain HPs and initiate extension reactions in the presence of polymerase and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. This results in the release of the redox labels from the electrode surface and the target dissociating from the HPs. The released target will bind to other HPs to activate new cycles, which results in enhanced suppression of current, measured best at ?0.27 V and +0.36 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for parallel detection of E. coli DNA and S. typh. DNA, respectively. The method presented here based on target recycling amplification and its integration into multiplexed electrochemical detection of pathogens was successfully applied to quantitative determination of E. coli O157:H7 and S. typh. in synthetic samples. In our perception, the strategy presented here represents a rapid and universal platform for sensitive and multiplexed quantitation of pathogens and related molecular diagnostic targets of relevance in food safety control.     

Electrochemical Magnetoimmunosensing Approach for the Sensitive Detection of H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus Particles

A novel electrochemical magnetoimmunosensor for fast and ultrasensitive detection of H9N2 avian influenza virus particles (H9N2 AIV) was designed based on the combination of high‐efficiency immunomagnetic separation, enzyme catalytic amplification, and the biotin–streptavidin system. The reusable, homemade magneto Au electrode (M‐AuE) was designed and used for the direct sensing. Immunocomplex‐coated magnetic beads (IMBs) were easily accumulated on the surface of the M‐AuE to obtain the catalytically reduced electrochemical signal of H₂O₂ after the immunoreaction. The transducer was regenerated through a simple washing procedure, which made it possible to detect all the samples on a single electrode with higher reproducibility. The magnetic‐bead‐based electrochemical immunosensor showed better analytical performance than the planar‐electrode‐based immunosensor with the same sandwich construction. Amounts as low as 10 pg mL^?1 H9N2 AIV could be detected even in samples of chicken dung. This electrochemical magnetoimmunosensor not only provides a simple platform for the detection of the virus with high sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility but also shows great potential in the early diagnosis of diseases.     

Label free capacitive immunosensor for detecting calpastatin — A meat tenderness biomarker

An immunological capacitive biosensor for calpastatin was developed, optimized and applied for the analysis of meat extract samples. Anti-calpastatin antibody was immobilized on a gold electrode modified with a self-assembled monolayer of mercaptoundecanoic acid and Protein A from Staphylococcus aureus, and the obtained immunosensor was inserted as the working electrode in an electrochemical cell of a flow injection system. The dynamic range of the sensor was 20 to 160 ng/mL calpastatin. The electrode could be regenerated and re-used for more than 7 days with minimal reduction in sensitivity. For the analysis of real samples, the target analyte was extracted from the Longissimus dorsi muscle from beef carcasses directly after slaughtering. The extract was analyzed both with the developed immunosensor and microtiter plate ELISA, and a good correlation was obtained. However the immunosensor offers advantages of speed, simplicity, sensitivity and possibility for miniaturization over conventional assays for calpastatin quantification.