Sandwich immunoassay for alpha-fetoprotein in human sera using gold nanoparticle and magnetic bead labels along with resonance Rayleigh scattering readout

We describe a sensitive sandwich immunoassay for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). It is making use of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and magnetic beads (MBs) as labels, and of resonance Rayleigh scattering for detection. Two antibodies were labeled with GNPs and MBs, respectively, and MB-antigen-GNP complexes were formed in the presence of antigens. The MB labels also serve as solid phase carriers that can be used to magnetically separate the immuno complex. The GNP labels are used as optical probes, and Rayleigh scattering was used to determine the concentration of free GNPs-antibody after separation of the MB-antigen-GNP complexes. The concentration of AFP is related to the intensity of light scattered by free GNPs in the 13.6 pM to 436 pM concentration range, and the limit of detection is 13.6 pM. The method was applied to the determination of AFP in sera of cancer patients, and the results agree well with those obtained by conventional ELISA.

共振散射相关光谱一种新的单颗粒探测方法

基于共焦构型构建了共振散射相关光谱新方法, 阐明了共振散射相关光谱的原理, 并利用纳米金的共振散射特性, 将纳米金标记到生物分子上. 考察了该系统的重现性以及溶液粘度、粒径、浓度和激光能量对金纳米粒子在溶液中扩散行为的影响. 结果表明, 共振散射相关光谱可以替代荧光相关光谱, 应用于生物分析和某些生物系统研究.     

Characterization of gold nanoparticle bioconjugation by resonance light scattering correlation spectroscopy

<正>Gold nanoparticles(GNPs) have been widely used as probes and nanomaterials in certain biological and biomedical fields thanks to its special physical and chemical properties.However,it is still difficult to characterize GNPs-bioconjugates in solution,which has greatly limited further bioapplications of GNPs.In this study,we reported a single particle method for characterizing GNPsbiomolecules in solution using resonance light scattering correlation spectroscopy(RLSCS).The interaction of GNPs with bovine serum albumin(BSA) and thiol-modified oligonucletides were investigated.     

A single particle method for direct determination of molar concentrations of gold nanoparticles,and its application to the determination of the activity of caspase 3 and drug-induced cell apoptosis

We report on a method for direct determination of the molar concentration of gold nanoparticles (GNP) in solution by using resonance light scattering correlation spectroscopy (RLSCS). RLSCS is based on the correlation analysis of the fluctuations of resonance light scattering due to Brownian motion of single nanoparticles in a highly-focused laser volume. Similar to single molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, the number of particles in the detection volume is reciprocally related to the G(0) value in the RLSCS plot. A model is established for quantification of GNP concentration, and the effect of laser illumination intensity was studied. An excellent linear relationship exists between the concentration of GNP and the reciprocal G(0) value of the correlation plots at low laser illumination intensity. The method was applied to the determination of the molar concentrations of GNP in sizes of 15, 20, 30, and 40 nm to give detection limits of 300, 80, 10, and 40 pM, respectively. The results obtained by RLSCS were in good agreement with that of combined atomic emission spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (AES-TEM). A sensitive microscale method was reported for the determination of the activity of the enzyme caspase 3 by RLSCS by using GNP as labeling probes. The assay is based on the measurement of the change of the molar concentration of GNP when peptide-labeled GNP substrates were cleaved by caspase 3. The method is shown to enable the determination of caspase 3 (with a 0.1 nM detection limit) and to monitoring drug-induced cell apoptosis.

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Graphical abstract Enzyme activity and cell apoptosis assays by single particle resonance light scattering correlation spectroscopy (RLSCS) are reported.

     

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy of gold nanoparticles,and its application to an aptamer-based homogeneous thrombin assay

We have studied the fluorescence properties and diffusion behaviors of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in solution by using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) at single molecule level. The GNPs display a high photo-saturation feature. Under illumination with strong laser light, they display higher brightness per particle (BPP) despite their low quantum yields. Based on the unique fluorescence properties and diffusion behaviors of GNPs, we have developed a sensitive and homogenous thrombin assay. It is based on a sandwich strategy and is making use of GNPs to which two different aptamers are conjugated. When the differently aptamer-labeled GNPs are mixed with solutions containing thrombin, the affinity reaction causes the GNPs to form dimers or oligomers. This leads to an increase in the diffusion time of the GNPs in the detection volume that is seen in FCS. The FCS method enables sensitive detection of the change in the characteristic diffusion time of the GNPs before and after the affinity reaction. Quantitative analysis of thrombin is based on the measurement of the change in the diffusion time. Under optimal conditions, the calibration plot is linear in the 0.5 nM to 110 nM thrombin concentration range, and the detection limit is 0.5 nM. The method was successfully applied to the direct determination of thrombin in human plasma.

Electrokinetic analyte transport assay for alpha-fetoprotein immunoassay integrates mixing, reaction and separation on-chip

A rapid and highly sensitive CE immunoassay method integrating mixing, reaction, separation, and detection on-chip is described for the measurement of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a liver cancer marker in blood. Antibody-binding reagents, consisting of 245-bp DNA coupled anti-AFP WA1 antibody (DNA-WA1) and HiLyte dye-labeled anti-AFP WA2 antibody (HiLyte-WA2), and AFP-containing sample were filled into adjacent zones of a chip channel defined by the laminar flow lines of the microfluidic device using pressure-driven flow. The channel geometry was thus used to quantitatively aliquot the reagents and sample into the chip. DNA-WA1 was electrokinetically concentrated in the channel and sequentially transported through the AFP-sample zone and HiLyte-WA2 zone by ITP in such a manner that the AFP sandwich immune complex formation took place in the sample and HiLyte-WA2 zones. The sandwich AFP immune complex was then detected by LIF after CGE in a separation channel that was arranged downstream of the reaction channel. AFP was detected within 136 s with a detection sensitivity of 5 pM. The on-chip immunoassay described here, applying ITP concentration, in-channel reaction, and CGE separation, has the potential of providing a rapid and sensitive method for both clinical and research applications.     

A facile and sensitive immunoassay for the detection of alpha-fetoprotein using gold-coated magnetic nanoparticle clusters and dynamic light scattering

A facile and sensitive immunoassay protocol for the detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was developed using gold-coated iron oxide magnetic nanoclusters and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. The increase in the average particle size due to AFP-mediated aggregation was measured using DLS, and the detection limit was better than 0.01 ng mL(-1).     

A one-step homogeneous immunoassay for cancer biomarker detection using gold nanoparticle probes coupled with dynamic light scattering

A one-step homogeneous immunoassay for the detection of a prostate cancer biomarker, free-PSA (prostate specific antigen), was developed using gold nanoparticle probes coupled with dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. A spherical gold nanoparticle with a core diameter around 37 nm and a gold nanorod with a dimension of 40 by 10 nm were first conjugated with two different primary anti-PSA antibodies and then used as optical probes for the immunoassay. In the presence of antigen f-PSA in solution, the nanoparticles and nanorods aggregate together into pairs and oligomers through the formation of a sandwich type antibody-antigen-antibody linkage. The relative ratio of nanoparticle-nanorod pairs and oligomers versus individual nanoparticles was quantitatively monitored by DLS measurement. A correlation can be established between this relative ratio and the amount of antigen in solution. The light scattering intensity of nanoparticles and nanoparticle oligomers is several orders of magnitude higher than proteins and other typical molecules, making it possible to detect nanoparticle probes in the low picomolar concentration range. f-PSA in the concentration range from 0.1 to 10 ng/mL was detected by this one-step and washing-free homogeneous immunoassay.     

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer inhibition assay for α-fetoprotein excreted during cancer cell growth using functionalized persistent luminescence nanoparticles

Persistent-luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are promising as a new generation of photoluminescent probes for detection of biomolecules and bioimaging. Here we report a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) inhibition assay for α-fetoprotein (AFP) excreted during cancer cell growth using water-soluble functionalized PLNPs based on Eu2+- and Dy3+-doped Ca1.86Mg0.14ZnSi2O7. Polyethyleneimine-coated PLNPs were conjugated with AFP-antibody-coated gold nanoparticles as a sensitive and specific persistent photoluminescence probe for detection of AFP in serum samples and imaging of AFP excreted during cancer cell growth. Such PLNPs do not contain toxic heavy metals. Their long-lasting afterglow nature allows detection and imaging without external illumination, thereby eliminating the autofluorescence and scattering light from biological matrixes encountered under in situ excitation.     

Highly sensitive microfluidic competitive enzyme immunoassay based on chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer for the detection of neuron‐specific enolase

A microfluidic competitive enzyme immunoassay based on chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) was developed for highly sensitive detection of neuron‐specific enolase (NSE). The CRET system consisted of horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/luminol as a light donor and fluorescein isothiocyanate as an acceptor. When fluorescein isothiocyanate‐labeled antibody binds with HRP‐labeled antigen to form immunocomplex, the donor and acceptor are brought close each other and CRET occurs in the immunocomplex. In the MCE, the immunocomplex and excess HRP–NSE were separated, and the chemiluminescense intensity of immunocomplex was used to estimate NSE concentration. The calibration curve showed a linearity in the range of NSE concentrations from 9.0 to 950 pM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9964. Based on a S/N of 3, the detection limit for NSE determination was estimated to be 4.5 pM, which is two‐order magnitude lower than that of without CRET detection. This assay was applied for NSE quantification in human serum. The obtained results demonstrated that the proposed immunoassay may serve as an alternative tool for clinical analysis of NSE.     

Homogeneous immunoassay based on aggregation of antibody-functionalized gold nanoparticles coupled with light scattering detection

A universal platform of homogeneous noncompetitive immunoassay, using human immunoglobulin (IgG) as a model analyte, has been developed. The assay is based on aggregation of antibody-functionalized gold nanoparticles directed by the immunoreaction coupled with light scattering detection with a common spectrofluorimeter. In phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) solution, the light scattering intensity of the gold nanoparticles functionalized with goat-anti-human IgG can be greatly enhanced by addition of the human IgG. Based on this phenomenon, a wide dynamic range of 0.05-10 microg ml(-1) for determination of human IgG can be obtained, and the detection limit can reach 10 ng ml(-1). The proposed immunoassay can be accomplished in a homogeneous solution with one-step operation within 10 min and has been successfully applied to the determination of human IgG in serum samples, in which the results are well consistent with those of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indicating its high selectivity and practicality. Therefore, the gold nanoparticle-based light scattering method can be used as a model to establish the general methods for protein assay in the fields of molecular biology and clinical diagnostics.     

Detection of picomolar levels of interleukin-8 in human saliva by SPR

Researchers at UCLA have discovered that the levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) protein in the saliva of healthy individuals and patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are 30 pM and 86 pM, respectively. In this study, we present the development of the first immunoassay for the quantification of picomolar IL-8 concentrations in human saliva using Biacore surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a microfluidic channel. A sandwich assay using two monoclonal antibodies, which recognize different epitopes on the antigen (IL-8), was used. Only 13 minutes were required to determine the quantity of pure IL-8 added to just 100 microL of either buffer or saliva-based samples. The limit of detection (LOD) of this immunoassay in buffer was 2.5 pM, and the precision of the response for each concentration was <3% of the coefficient of variation. When first analyzing the saliva supernatants, non-specific binding to the surface was observed. By adding carboxymethyl dextran sodium salt (10 mg mL(-1)) to compete with the surface dextran and primary antibody for non-specific interactions, the signal to noise ratio was greatly improved. The LOD of this immunoassay in saliva was 184 pM. A minimum concentration of 250 pM of exogenous IL-8 could then be consistently detected in a salivary environment. The precision of the response for each IL-8 concentration tested was <7% of the coefficient of variation. Diagnostic sensitivity for oral cancer can be achieved by pre-concentrating the saliva samples 10 fold prior to SPR analysis, making the target levels of IL-8 300 pM for healthy individuals and 860 pM for oral cancer patients.     

Immunoassay for serum alpha-fetoprotein using silver nanoparticles and detection via resonance light scattering

The assay for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is based on the use of immobilized anti-AFP labeled with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The immunoreaction between the labeled antibody against AFP and free AFP takes place in pH 6.0 solution and leads to the formation of the respective immunocomplex which displays enhanced resonance light scattering (RLS) intensity at 480 nm. Under the optimal conditions, the intensity of the enhanced RLS is proportional to the concentration of AFP in the range from 0.10 to 50 ng mL^?1, with a detection limit of 40 pg mL^?1. The characteristics of RLS, the immunocomplex, the immuno response, and the optimum conditions of the immunoreaction have been investigated. The concentration of AFP in 20 serum specimens was determined by the new assay, and results are consistent with those obtained with a commercially available ELISA kit.

Flow injection spectrofluorimetric determination of carvedilol mediated by micelles

We propose a novel evanescent wave scattering imaging method using an objective-type total internal reflection system to image and track single gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in solution. In this imaging system, only a millimeter-scale hole is employed to efficiently separate GNPs scattering light from the background reflected beam. The detailed experimental realization of the imaging system was discussed, and the effect of the hole size on imaging was investigated. We observed that the hole diameters from 2.5 to 4 mm are suitable to perform the scattering imaging by adjusting the incidence angle. The technology was successfully applied to track single gold nanoparticles in solution and on live cell membrane via the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody. Compared to total internal fluorescence microscopy, the resonance light scattering detection has no photobleaching or blinking inherent to fluorescent dyes and quantum dots. Compared to conventional dark-field microscopy, the evanescent wave illumination can be conveniently applied to study membrane dynamics in living cells. Additionally, the objective-based configuration provides a free space above the coverslip, and allows imaging and concomitant manipulation of live cells in culture by microinjection, patch-clamping, AFM and other techniques.     

Antibody-invertase Cross-linkage Nanoparticles: A New Signal Tag for Point-of-Care Immunoassay of Alpha-fetoprotein for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Personal Glucometer

Methods based on immunoassays have been developed for cancer biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), but most involve complicated or stripping procedures and are unfavourable for routine use. Herein we report the proof-of-concept of simple and point-of-care (POC) immunoassay for AFP in hepatocellular carcinoma on a portable personal glucometer (PGM) by using antibody-invertase cross-linkage nanoparticles as the signal-generation tags. Antibody-invertase cross-linkage nano tags were synthesized by using reverse micellar method with glutaraldehyde. The POC immunoassay was carried out on monoclonal anti-AFP capture antibody-coated microplate with a sandwich-type reaction mode. Introduction of invertase nano labels accompanying target AFP could hydrolyse sucrose into glucose and fructose. The produced glucose molecules could be determined on a portable personal glucometer. Relative to unimolecular invertase labelling, improved analytical features were acquired with antibody-invertase nano labelling. With the nano labels, PGM-based immunoassay exhibited good electrochemical responses for the detection of AFP, and allowed detection of AFP at a concentration as low as 5.4 pg mL⁻¹. Moreover, a good repeatability and intermediate precision could be found down to 12.68 %. Good well-matched results were obtained for analysis of human serum specimens between POC immunoassay and commercial human AFP ELISA kit.     

Gold nanoparticles based chemiluminescent resonance energy transfer for immunoassay of alpha fetoprotein cancer marker

In this paper, we report a new strategy of chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) by using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as efficient long-range energy acceptor in sandwich immunoassays. In the design of CRET system, we chose the highly sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) reaction of luminol and hydrogen peroxide catalysed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) because the CL spectrum of luminol (λ(max) 425 nm) partially overlaps with the visible absorption bands of AuNPs. On the basis of CRET strategy, we developed a sandwich immunoassay of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) cancer marker. In immunoassay, two antibodies (anti-AFP-1 and anti-AFP-2) were conjugated to AuNPs and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), respectively. The sandwich-type immunoreactions between the AFP (antigen) and the two different antibodies bridged the donors (luminol) and acceptors (AuNPs), which led to the occurrence of CRET from luminol to AuNPs upon chemiluminescent reaction. We observed that the quenching of chemiluminescence signal depended linearly on the AFP concentration within a range of concentration from 5 to 70 ng mL(-1) and the detection limit of AFP was 2.5 ng mL(-1). Our method was successfully applied for determination of AFP levels in sera from cancer patients, and the results were in good agreement with ELISA assays. This approach is expected to be extended to other assay designs, that is, using other antibodies, analytes, chemiluminescent substance, and even other metallic nanoparticles.     

Duplexed sandwich immunoassays on a fiber-optic microarray

In this paper, we describe a duplexed imaging optical fiber array-based immunoassay for immunoglobulin A (IgA) and lactoferrin. To fabricate the individually addressable array, microspheres were functionalized with highly specific monoclonal antibodies. The microspheres were loaded in microwells etched into the distal face of an imaging optical fiber bundle. Two microsphere-based sandwich immunoassays were developed to simultaneously detect IgA and lactoferrin, two innate immune system proteins found in human saliva. Individual microspheres could be interrogated for the simultaneous measurement of both proteins. The working concentration range for IgA detection was between 700 pM and 100 nM, while the working concentration range for lactoferrin was between 385 pM and 10 nM. The cross-reactivity between detection antibodies and their non-specific targets was relatively low in comparison to the signal generated by the specific binding with their targets. These results suggest that the degree of multiplexing on this fiber-optic array platform can be increased beyond a duplex.     

痕量甲胎蛋白的免疫纳米金催化-氧化亚铜微粒共振散射光谱分析

用粒径15 nm 的纳米金标记单克隆羊抗人甲胎蛋白(GAFP), 制备了甲胎蛋白(AFP)的免疫纳米金探针(AuGAFP). 纳米金及AuGAFP均对葡萄糖还原铜(Ⅱ)生成Cu₂O微粒这一慢反应具有较强的催化作用, Cu₂O微粒在620 nm处产生1个较强的共振散射峰. 将AFP-AuGAFP免疫反应与离心分离技术结合, 建立了超痕量AFP的免疫纳米金催化-Cu₂O微粒共振散射光谱新方法. 随着AFP浓度的增大, AFP-AuGAFP免疫复合物微粒增多, 离心液中AuGAFP浓度降低, 620 nm处的共振散射光强度I_{620 nm}线性降低, 其降低值ΔI_RS与AFP质量浓度ρ(AFP)在0.10～16.0 ng/mL范围内呈现良好的线性关系, 其回归方程为ΔI_RS=4.27ρ(AFP)+1.28, 检出限为0.05 ng/mL. 本方法所用试剂易得, 反应易控制, 灵敏度高, 选择性好, 用于定量分析人血清中的AFP, 结果令人满意.     

An improved chemiluminescence-based liposome immunoassay involving apoenzyme

An improved liposome immunoassay system (LIS) combining the chemiluminescence-based LIS with an apoenzyme reactivation immunoassay system (ARIS) was developed. A low-molecular-weight co-factor, FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide), was incorporated into liposomes instead of the high-molecular-weight enzyme GOD (glucose oxidase). FAD released from liposomes by cytolysin-hapten conjugates bound to Apo-GOD and regenerated GOD. The system allowed detection of 10 pM digoxin, the model analyte and was linear over 10 pM to 13 nM digoxin. This sensitivity was about 300 times higher than that of the homogeneous system using GOD-containing liposomes and 30 times higher than that of the heterogeneous system which we reported previously. The time required for incubation during the detection of digoxin was reduced from 20 to 3 h.     

SERS-based immunoassay using a gold array-embedded gradient microfluidic chip

Here we report the development of a programmable and fully automatic gold array-embedded gradient microfluidic chip that integrates a gradient microfluidic device with gold-patterned microarray wells. This device provides a convenient and reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based immunoassay platform for cancer biomarkers. We used hollow gold nanospheres (HGNs) as SERS agents because of their highly sensitive and reproducible characteristics. The utility of this platform was demonstrated by the quantitative immunoassay of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) model protein marker. Our proposed SERS-based immunoassay platform has many advantages over other previously reported SERS immunoassay methods. The tedious manual dilution process of repetitive pipetting and inaccurate dilution is eliminated with this process because various concentrations of biomarker are automatically generated by microfluidic gradient generators with N cascade-mixing stages. The total assay time from serial dilution to SERS detection takes less than 60 min because all of the experimental conditions for the formation and detection of immunocomplexes can be automatically controlled inside the exquisitely designed microfluidic channel. Thus, this novel SERS-based microfluidic assay technique is expected to be a powerful clinical tool for fast and sensitive cancer marker detection.