A competitive immunoassay for sensitive detection of small molecules chloramphenicol based on luminol functionalized silver nanoprobe

Chloramphenicol (CHL) as a broad-spectrum antibiotic has a broad action spectrum against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as anaerobes. The use of CHL is strictly restricted in poultry because of its toxic effect. However, CHL is still illegally used in animal farming because of its accessibility and low cost. Therefore, sensitive methods are highly desired for the determination of CHL in foodstuffs. The immunoassays based on labeling as an important tool have been reported for the detection of CHL residues in food-producing animals. However, most of the labeling procedures require multi-step reactions and purifications and thus they are complicated and time-consuming. Recently, in our previous work, luminol functionalized silver nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized, which exhibits higher CL efficiency than luminol functionalized gold nanoparticles. In this work, the new luminol functionalized silver nanoparticles have been used for the labeling of small molecules CHL for the first time and a competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay has been developed for the detection of CHL. Owing to the amplification of silver nanoparticles, high sensitivity for CHL could be achieved with a low detection limit of 7.6 × 10⁻⁹ g mL⁻¹ and a wide linear dynamic range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁸–1.0 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹. This method has also been successfully applied to determine CHL in milk and honey samples with a good recoveries (92% and 102%, 99% and 107% respectively), indicating that the method is feasible for the determination of CHL in real milk and honey samples. The labeling procedure is simple, convenient and fast, superior to previously reported labeling procedures. The immunoassay is also simple, fast, sensitive and selective. It is of application potential for the determination of CHL in foodstuffs.     

Direct hapten coated immunoassay format for the detection of atrazine and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicides

A novel immunoassay format employing direct coating of small molecular hapten on microtiter plates is reported for the detection of atrazine and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D). In this assay, the polystyrene surface of microtiter plates was first treated with an acid to generate -NO₂ groups on the surface. Acid treated plates were further treated with 3-aminoprpyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to functionalize the plate surface with amino groups for covalent linkage to small molecular hapten with carboxyl groups. The modified plates showed significantly high antibody binding in comparison to plates coated with hapten-carrier protein conjugates and presented excellent stability as a function of the buffer pH and reaction time. The developed assay employing direct hapten coated plates and using affinity purified atrazine and 2,4-D antibodies demonstrated very high sensitivity, IC₅₀ values for atrazine and 2,4-D equal to 0.8 ng mL⁻¹ and 7 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The assay could detect atrazine and 2,4-D levels in standard water samples even at a very low concentration upto 0.02 and 0.7 ng mL⁻¹ respectively in the optimum working range between 0.01 and 1000 ng mL⁻¹ with good signal reproducibility (p values: 0.091 and 0.224 for atrazine and 2,4-D, respectively). The developed immunoassay format could be used as convenient quantitative tool for the sensitive screening of pesticides in samples.     

A gel-based visual immunoassay for non-instrumental detection of chloramphenicol in food samples

A gel-based non-instrumental immuno-affinity assay was developed for the rapid screening of chloramphenicol (CAP) in food samples with the limit of detection (LOD) of 1 μg L⁻¹. The immuno-affinity test column (IATC) consisted of a test layer containing anti-CAP antibody coupled gel, and a control layer with anti-HRP antibody coupled gel. Based on the direct competitive immuno-reaction and the horseradish peroxidase enzymatic reaction, the test results could be evaluated visually. Basically, blue color development represented the negative results, while the absence of color development represented the positive results. In this study, CAP spiked samples of raw milk, pasteurized milk, UHT milk, skimmed milk powder, acacia honey, date honey, fish and shrimp were tested. Little or none sample pretreatment was required for this assay. The whole procedure was completed within 10 min. In conclusion, the gel-based immuno-affinity test is a simple, rapid, and promising on-site screening method for CAP residues in food samples, with no instrumental requirement.     

An immunoassay for bisphenol A based on direct hapten conjugation to the polystyrene surface of microtiter plates

Based on direct hapten coated format a competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ciELISA) for bisphenol A (BPA) was developed. Polystyrene surface was modified by 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to produce amino groups after H₂SO₄/HNO₃-pre-treatment. 4,4-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) valeric acid (BVA) which is analogue of BPA, was successfully immobilized on the surface of microtiter plates by N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) method. The essential steps of the assay were optimized, especially blocking procedure which is key step to prevent unspecific binding of antibody. The results indicated that compared with hapten-protein coated format (IC₅₀ = 176.67 ng ml⁻¹, LOD = 15.90 ng ml⁻¹), the direct hapten coated format (IC₅₀ = 23.50 ng ml⁻¹, LOD = 0.27 ng ml⁻¹) could improve assay sensitivity and the detection ranges were 2.30 ng∼157.60 ng ml⁻¹ with good signal reproducibility (P value > 0.05) after careful optimization of assay conditions. Tap water samples and seawater samples were spiked with a known amount of BPA and measured by ciELISA. The average recoveries were between 70 and 142%. As far as we are aware this is the most sensitive ELISA for BPA yet reported.     

Gold nanocatalyst-based immunosensing strategy accompanying catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol for sensitive monitoring of chloramphenicol residue

A new competitive-type immunosensing system based on gold nanoparticles toward catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) was developed for sensitive monitoring of antibiotic residue (chloramphenicol, CAP, used in this case) by using ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrometry. Gold nanoparticle (AuNP) with 16 nm in diameter was initially synthesized and functionalized with CAP–bovine serum albumin (CAP–BSA) conjugate, which were used as the competitor on monoclonal anti-CAP antibody-coated polystyrene microtiter plate (MTP). In the presence of target CAP, the labeled CAP–BSA on the AuNP competed with target CAP for the immobilized antibody on the MTP. The conjugated amount of CAP–BSA–AuNP on the MTP decreased with the increase of target CAP in the sample. Upon addition of 4-NP and NaBH₄ into the MTP, the carried AuNP could catalytically reduce 4-NP to 4-aminophenol (4-AP), and the as-produced 4-AP could be monitored by using UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. Experimental results indicated that the absorbance at 403 nm increased with the increment of target CAP concentration in the sample, and exhibited a dynamic range from 0.1 to 100 ng mL⁻¹ with a detection limit (LOD) of 0.03 ng mL⁻¹ at the 3s_blank level. Intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were lower than 5.5% and 8.0%, respectively. In addition, the methodology was evaluated for CAP spiked honey and milk samples, respectively. The recovery was 92–112%.     

A newly developed immunoassay method based on optical measurement for Protein A detection

We describe the development of an immunoassay using an antibody-silver nanoparticle (Ab-AgNP) conjugate as a catalyst for the silver enhancement reaction. The immuno-reaction signals that were magnified by silver metal precipitation were quantified using a commercial flatbed scanner. Protein A from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), a common clinical pathogenic bacterium, was used in this research. The ease of infection of S. aureus necessitates the development of a fast detection method. The framework of the method described in this paper is based on the sandwich immunoassay and contains a 1st antibody (immunoglobulin G, IgG), an antigen (Protein A), and a 2nd antibody-colloidal silver conjugate (IgG-AgNPs). The silver enhancement reaction, a signal amplification method in which silver ions are reduced to metallic silver, is used to magnify the immuno-reaction signal. The change in signal, as visualized in grayscale, can be easily observed and analyzed by our optical scanning detection system. The relationship between antigen concentration and grayscale value is discussed. The detectable concentration limit for the antigen was found to be 1 ng/mL with 10 μg/mL of IgG and 300 μM of the IgG-AgNP conjugate. This immunoassay method provides the advantages of low cost, easy operation, and short detection time. Moreover, it has potential applications in clinical diagnoses.     

A label-free electrochemical immunoassay for IgG detection based on the electron transfer

In this study, a highly selective, label-free electrochemical immunoassay strategy based on the charge transport through the multilayer films associated with the electrocatalytic reduction of [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ is proposed using human immunoglobulin G (human IgG) as the model analyte. The antibody-antigen complex formed on the sensing interface can efficiently induce change of the surface charge characteristics, the conductivity of multilayer film and/or electron transfer distance, resulting in an immunoreaction signal. The current reduction is proportional to the amount of analyte. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the proposed sensing strategy provides a linear dynamic range from 10 to 10⁴ ng mL⁻¹ and a detection limit of 3 ng mL⁻¹, indicating an improved analytical performance. This possibly makes it a potential alternative in bioanalysis of proteins and other molecules.     

A highly sensitive fluorescent immunoassay based on avidin-labeled nanocrystals

Nanocrystals of the fluorogenic precursor fluorescein diacetate (FDA) were applied as labels in order to improve on the assay sensitivity achieved in our previous studies. Each FDA nanocrystal can be converted into ∼2.6×10⁶ fluorescein molecules, which is useful for improving immunoassay sensitivity and limits of detection. NeutrAvidin was simply adsorbed onto the surface of the FDA nanocrystals, which were coated with distearoylglycerophosphoethanolamine (DSPE) modified with amino(poly(ethylene glycol))(PEG(2000)-Amine) as an interface for coupling biomolecules. This can be applied to detect different kinds of analytes that are captured by corresponding biotinylated biomolecules in different bioanalytical applications. The applicability of the NeutrAvidin-labeled nanocrystals was demonstrated in an immunoassay using the labeled avidin–biotin technique. Biotinylated antibody and FDA-labeled avidin were applied to the assay sequentially. The performance was compared with the traditional sandwich-type assay for mouse immunoglobulin G detection. Following the immunoreaction, the nanocrystals were released by hydrolysis and dissolution instigated by adding a large volume of organic solvent/sodium hydroxide mixture. The limit of detection was lower (by a factor of 2.5–21) and the sensitivity was (3.5–30-fold) higher than immunoassays using commercial labeling systems (FITC and peroxidase). This study shows that using fluorescent nanocrystals in combination with the avidin–biotin technique can enhance assay sensitivity and provide a lower limit of detection without requiring long incubation times as in enzyme-based labels.     

A highly sensitive europium nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay for detection of chloramphenicol residue

A europium nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay for highly sensitive detection of chloramphenicol residue was developed. The detection result could be either qualitatively resolved with naked eye or quantitatively analyzed with the assistance of a digital camera. In the qualitative mode, the limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.25 ng/mL. In the quantitative mode, the half-maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) was determined to be 0.45 ng/mL and the LOD can reach an ultralow level of 0.03 ng/mL, which is ~100 times lower than that of the conventional colloidal gold-based lateral flow immunoassay. Potential application of the established method was demonstrated by analyzing representative cow milk samples.

A fast and sensitive enzyme immunoassay for brain natriuretic peptide based on micro-magnetic probes strategy

In this paper, a simple, rapid and low-cost method for the high-sensitivity detection of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) was developed, which adopted three amplification steps: (a) biotin-streptavidin amplification; (b) micro-magnetic probe amplification; (c) HRP (horseradish peroxidase) signal amplification. In the present strategy, the streptavidin-coated micro-magnetic particles (MMPs) were first conjugated with biotin-labeled capture antibody via the biotin-streptavidin interaction, which formed bio-functional micro-magnetic probes. Then, the analyte (antigen) is sandwiched by HRP-labeled antibody and capture antibody bound to MMPs. Finally, the HRP at the surface of sandwich structures catalytically oxidized the substrate and generated optical signals that reflected the amount of the target BNP. The influence of some important parameters such as the size of magnetic particles, the working concentration of HRP-labeled BNP antibody, the stability of magnetic probes, and the assay medium of serum BNP, etc. on the detection ability of present method was investigated in details. It is found that the detection limit of the proposed method could reach 10 pg/mL for BNP, which is much lower than that of sandwich-type ELISA. Furthermore, this detection time for the proposed method just takes about 30 min (two reaction steps and one wash step), which is faster than that of conventional sandwich-type ELISA (taking about 4 h, three reaction steps and three wash steps). Inspired by these advantages, it is expected that this method can probably be applicable to the detection of other hormones and tumor markers that are present in only low concentrations within the human body.     

Use of biotin-streptavidin system for developing a viable, sensitive and specific antigen heterologous assay for hapten

The present study demonstrates improvement in sensitivity and specificity of hapten assay by using antigen heterology in conjunction with low molecular weight biotin label as compared to high molecular weight horseradish peroxidase (HRP) label. For generation of antiserum, cortisol-3-O-carboxylmethyl-oxime-bovine serum albumin (F-3-CMO-BSA) was used as immunogen whereas, for the preparation of primary label, corticosterone-3-carboxymethyl oxime (B-3-CMO) was coupled with biotinylcaproylhydrazide and HRP by employing N-hydroxysuccinimide mediated carbodiimide reaction. The data of the present study revealed that the antigen heterologous assay which employed high molecular weight HRP label showed 100% cross-reaction with corticosterone. On the contrary, when HRP was replaced with low molecular weight biotin label, less than 0.1% cross-reaction was observed with all analogous C₁₈, C₁₉, C₂₁ and C₂₇ steroids including corticosterone (0.2%). Moreover, the sensitivity of the later assay was 0.09 μg/dL, which is appreciable as compared to previously reported enzyme based assays. The recovery of the exogenously spiked serum pools lies in the range of 90.3-104.2%. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficient of variation (CVs) ranged from 3.3% to 7.8% and 2.3% to 7.7%, respectively. The serum cortisol values obtained by this method correlated well with those obtained by radioimmunoassay; r = 0.9 (n = 50). The use of much stable biotin label in place of HRP has made the antigen heterologous enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of cortisol assay highly specific and sensitive.     

Thin-layered MoS2/polyaniline nanocomposite for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of chloramphenicol

In this study, we synthesized molybdenum disulfide/polyaniline (MoS₂/PANI) nanocomposite via in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of thin-layered MoS₂. The as-prepared MoS₂/PANI nanocomposite obtained an improved electrochemical performance due to the physisorption interaction between aromatic aniline and the basal plane of MoS₂. Furthermore, we constructed a new kind of electrochemical sensor based on MoS₂/PANI nanocomposite for the detection of chloramphenicol, which showed an excellent performance. The sensor has a high sensitivity and wide detection range from 1×10^-7 mol/L to 1×10^-4 mol/L, with a low detection limit of 6.9×10^-8 mol/L.     

Development of a highly sensitive and specific immunoassay for enrofloxacin based on heterologous coating haptens

In the paper, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent immunoassay (ELISA) for detection of enrofloxacin was described using one new derivative of enrofloxacin as coating hapten, resulting in surprisingly high sensitivity and specificity. Incorporation of aminobutyric acid (AA) in the new derivative of enrofloxacin had decreased the IC₅₀ of the ELISA for enrofloxacin from 1.3 μg L⁻¹ to as low as 0.07 μg L⁻¹. The assay showed neglect cross-reactivity for other fluoroquinolones but ofloxacin (8.23%), marbofloxacin (8.97%) and pefloxacin (7.29%). Analysis of enrofloxacin fortified chicken muscle showed average recoveries from 81 to 115%. The high sensitivity and specificity of the assay makes it a suitable screening method for the determination of low levels of enrofloxacin in chicken muscle without clean-up step.     

A sensitive and rapid immunoassay for quantification of CA125 in human sera by capillary electrophoresis with enhanced chemiluminescence detection

In this paper we have presented a sensitive and rapid immunoassay (IA) method by capillary electrophoresis with an enhanced chemiluminescence detection system (CE-CL) based on the catalytic effects of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the luminol-hydrogen peroxide reaction. The conditions for the CL reaction and electrophoresis were systematically investigated using HRP as a model sample. The linear range from 2.5 x 10(-11) to 1.0 x 10(-9) mol/L (R = 0.999), and the detection limit of 1.0 x 10(-12) mol/L (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) for HRP were achieved using para-iodophenol as CL enhancer. The relative standard deviations of the migration time and peak area for 5.0 x 10(-10) mol/L HRP (n = 7) were 0.26 and 4.8%, respectively, using a CE system with a home-built CL detector. Under the optimal condition, the HRP-labeled CA125 antibody (Ab) and the Ab-antigen complex were well separated within 4 min by CE using a high-pH buffer (pH 10.20). The assay was successfully used for quantification of CA125 in human sera from health controls and patients associated with ovarian cancer, and the recoveries of the standard addition experiments were 93-109%. Our primary results demonstrated that IA based on CE-CL detection is a powerful tool for clinical diagnosis combined with these commercial IA kits.     

Development and validation of a sensitive and fast chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay for the detection of genetically modified maize

Proteins from the Cry 1 family, in particular Cry 1Ab, are commonly expressed in genetically modified Bt maize in order to control chewing insect pests. A sensitive chemiluminescent sandwich enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Cry1Ab protein from genetically modified Bt maize has been developed and validated. A Cry1Ab protein-specific antibody was immobilized on 96- or 384-well microtiter plates in order to capture the Cry1Ab toxin in the sample; the bound toxin was then detected by employing a second anti-Cry1Ab antibody and a horseradish peroxidase-labeled anti-antibody, followed by measurement of the enzyme activity with an enhanced chemiluminescent system. The chemiluminescent assay fulfilled all the requirements of accuracy and precision and exhibited limits of detection of a few pg mL⁻¹ Cry1Ab (3 or 5 pg mL⁻¹, depending on the assay format), which are significantly lower than that achievable using conventional colorimetric detection of peroxidase activity and also represent an improvement compared to previously developed Cry1Ab immunoassays. High-throughput analysis can be performed using the 384-well microtiter plate format immunoassay, which also allows one to reduce the consumption of samples and reagents. Validation of the assay, performed by analyzing certified reference materials, proved that the immunoassay is able to detect the presence of the Cry1Ab protein in certified reference samples containing as low as 0.1% of MON 810 genetically modified Bt maize. This value is below the threshold requiring mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified material according to the actual EU regulation.     

A compact long-wavelength fluorescence detection system and its application to flow injection immunoassay

A compact and robust long-wavelength fluorescence detection system (LWFDS) has been constructed using a pulsed diode laser as the light source and a photodiode detector. The detection limits for naphthofluorescein (NF) and the cyanine dyes Cy5 and Cy5.5 at pH 8.8, determined using the LWFDS, were 1.0×10⁻¹⁰, 2.3×10⁻¹² and 6.2×10⁻¹¹ M, respectively. These values compared favourably with data from a commercial research grade fluorescence spectrometer. The LWFDS instrument was used as the detector for a competitive heterogeneous flow injection immunoassay for α-interferon with Cy5 as the label. A calibration graph usable over the range 0.5-10 μg ml⁻¹ α-interferon was obtained. The instrument demonstrated its potential for rapid (<200 s per sample) multi-analyte assays and for field monitoring.     

A label-free fluorescence immunoassay system for the sensitive detection of the mycotoxin, ochratoxin A

A label-free fluorescence immunoassay system relying on fluorescence from the dianionic form of ochratoxin A (OTA) in the OTA/anti-OTA complex was developed. With an optimized system, the fluorescence immunoassay can be used to detect OTA in a highly specific manner with a detection limit of 0.5 ng mL(-1).     

Fluorescence ELISA for sensitive detection of ochratoxin A based on glucose oxidase-mediated fluorescence quenching of CdTe QDs

The present study described a novel fluorescence enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) used to detect ochratoxin A (OTA) by using the glucose oxidase (GOx)-mediated fluorescence quenching of mercaptopropionic acid-capped CdTe quantum dots (MPA-QDs), in which GOx was used as an alternative to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for the oxidization of glucose into hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and gluconic acid. The MPA-QDs were used as a fluorescent signal output, whose fluorescence variation was extremely sensitive to the presence of H₂O₂ or hydrogen ions in the solution. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed fluorescence ELISA demonstrated a good linear detection of OTA in corn extract from 2.4 pg mL⁻¹ to 625 pg mL⁻¹ with a limit of detection of 2.2 pg mL⁻¹, which was approximately 15-fold lower than that of conventional HRP-based ELISA. Our developed fluorescence immunoassay was also similar to HRP-based ELISA in terms of selectivity, accuracy, and reproducibility. In summary, this study was the first to use the GOx-mediated fluorescence quenching of QDs in immunoassay to detect OTA, offering a new possibility for the analysis of other mycotoxins and biomolecules.     

A very sensitive flow system for the direct determination of copper in natural waters based on spectrophotometric detection

A very sensitive flow injection method with spectrophotometric detection has been developed for the on-line determination of copper in natural waters. The method exhibits a limit of detection three times lower than the most sensitive direct spectrophotometric method previously described and then allows the direct and simple in situ determination of copper in most natural waters.The method was based on the measurement of the absorbance of the coloured complex formed by copper with the chromogenic reagent di-2-pyridyl ketone benzoylhydrazone (dPKBH) in an alkaline medium. This complex presents stoichiometry 1:2 (Cu:dPKBH), and exhibits maximum absorbance at 370 nm. The manifold used was very simple, and consisted of two channels. The first one contained the sample while the second one contained the colorimetric reagent (3.3×10⁻⁴ M dPKBH in 10% ethanol), in a 1.6×10⁻² M phosphate buffer solution at pH 8. The performance of the system was optimised by using both univariate and modified simplex methodologies. When modified simplex was used, the best signal was obtained for a sample injection volume of 529 μl, a reaction coil length of 1.29 m, and a reagent flow rate of 4.8 ml min⁻¹. Under optimum conditions, the response was linear up to 3 mg l⁻¹ copper, the equation of the straight line being y=0.314x+5.2×10⁻⁴ (r²=0.998). The method allowed a sampling frequency of 40 samples per hour and exhibited a precision of 2.11% (as R.S.D., n=11). The limit of detection was 4.6 μg l⁻¹ (calculated as 3s_b/m, where s_b is the standard deviation of the y-intercept and m represents the slope of the straight line), and was therefore more sensitive than all the direct continuous methods reported previously.The method was successfully applied to the analysis of real water samples, with an average relative error of 5.32%.     

Multi-residue detection of pesticides using a sensitive immunochip assay based on nanogold enhancement

This paper describes the development of a new multiplex immunoassay for simultaneous detection of seven pesticides (triazophos, methyl-parathion, fenpropathrin, carbofuran, thiacloprid, chlorothalonil, and carbendazim). Sixteen pairs of pesticide antibodies and antigens were screened for reactivity and cross-reaction. A microarray chip consisting of seven antigens immobilized on a nitrocellulose membrane was then constructed. Nanogold was employed for labeling and signal amplification to obtain a sensitive colorimetric immunoassay. The direct and indirect detection formats were further compared using primary antibody-gold and secondary antibody-gold conjugates as tracers. An integrated 7-plex immunochip assay based on the indirect model was established and optimized. The detection limits for the pesticides were 0.02–6.45 ng mL⁻¹, which meets detection requirements for pesticide residues. Naked-eye assessment showed the visual detection limits of the assay ranged from 1 to 100 ng mL⁻¹. Spiked recovery results demonstrated that the immunochip assay had potential for multi-analysis of pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits. The proposed microarray methodology is a flexible and versatile tool, which can be applied to other competitive multiplex immunoassays for small molecular compounds.