Novel chemiluminescent assay for staphylococcal enterotoxin B

Detecting Biothreat Agents: From Current Diagnostics to Developing Sensor Technologies

Although a fundamental understanding of the pathogenicity of most biothreat agents has been elucidated and available treatments have increased substantially over the past decades, they still represent a significant public health threat in this age of (bio)terrorism, indiscriminate warfare, pollution, climate change, unchecked population growth, and globalization. The key step to almost all prevention, protection, prophylaxis, post-exposure treatment, and mitigation of any bioagent is early detection. Here, we review available methods for detecting bioagents including pathogenic bacteria and viruses along with their toxins. An introduction placing this subject in the historical context of previous naturally occurring outbreaks and efforts to weaponize selected agents is first provided along with definitions and relevant considerations. An overview of the detection technologies that find use in this endeavor along with how they provide data or transduce signal within a sensing configuration follows. Current "gold" standards for biothreat detection/diagnostics along with a listing of relevant FDA approved in vitro diagnostic devices is then discussed to provide an overview of the current state of the art. Given the 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus in Western Africa and the recent 2016 spread of Zika virus in the Americas, discussion of what constitutes a public health emergency and how new in vitro diagnostic devices are authorized for emergency use in the U.S. are also included. The majority of the Review is then subdivided around the sensing of bacterial, viral, and toxin biothreats with each including an overview of the major agents in that class, a detailed cross-section of different sensing methods in development based on assay format or analytical technique, and some discussion of related microfluidic lab-on-a-chip/point-of-care devices. Finally, an outlook is given on how this field will develop from the perspective of the biosensing technology itself and the new emerging threats they may face.

A fluorometric assay for staphylococcal enterotoxin B by making use of platinum coated gold nanorods and of upconversion nanoparticles

An aptamer based fluorometric assay is presented for fast and accurate detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). It is making use of platinum-coated gold nanorods (AuNR@Pt) and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). The aptamer against SEB is immobilized on AuNR@Pt while the complementary DNA fragment of SEB aptamer is immobilized on UCNPs. As the concentration of SEB increases, the fluorescence of the satellite assembly (AuNR@Pt-UCNPs) is gradually restored. Under the optimized conditions, fluorescence (best measured at excitation/emission wavelengths of 980/543 nm) linearly increases in the 2.0-400 pg·mL^-1 SEB concentration range. The limit of detection is as low as 0.9 pg·mL^-1 (at an S/N of 3), significantly lower than existing methods. The method was applied to the determination of SEB in spiked milk samples. The average recoveries ranged from 91.2% to 104.6%, confirming the practicality of this method. Graphical abstract Schematic illustration of a fluorometric assay based on inner filter effect (IFE) between platinum coated gold nanorods (AuNR@Pt) and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) for the determination of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB).

A Review of the Methods for Detection of Staphylococcus aureus Enterotoxins

Food safety has attracted extensive attention around the world, and food-borne diseases have become one of the major threats to health. Staphylococcus aureus is a major food-borne pathogen worldwide and a frequent contaminant of foodstuffs. Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) produced by some S. aureus strains will lead to staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) outbreaks. The most common symptoms caused by ingestion of SEs within food are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and cramps. Children will suffer SFP by ingesting as little as 100 ng of SEs, and only a few micrograms of SEs are enough to cause SPF in vulnerable populations. Therefore, it is a great challenge and of urgent need to detect and identify SEs rapidly and accurately for governmental and non-governmental agencies, including the military, public health departments, and health care facilities. Herein, an overview of SE detection has been provided through a comprehensive literature survey.

A novel electrochemical immunosensor based on magnetosomes for detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B in milk

In this paper, a novel electrochemical immunosensor to detect staphylococcal enterotoxin B based on bio-magnetosomes, polyaniline nano-gold composite and 1,2-dimethyl-3-butylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid, was developed, and found to exhibit high sensitivity and stability. The specific antibody to staphylococcal enterotoxin B conjugated with the magnetosomes showed rapid immunoreactions and good dispersion, which contributed to the formation of a nanostructurally smooth and dense film on the surface of a gold electrode. Polyaniline nano-gold composite and 1,2-dimethyl-3-butylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid were used to modify the electrode as mediators to improve the electron transfer and offer an excellent biocompatible microenvironment for the antibody to retain its activity to enhance the response of the electrochemical sensor. Under optimal conditions, the developed immunosensor showed a good linear response in the range from 0.05 to 5 ng/mL (R(2)=0.9957) with a detection limit as low as 0.017 ng/mL, compared with the one without magnetosomes (0.05-5 ng/mL, 0.033 ng/mL), this developed immunosensor showed a wider response range and a reduced detection limit. And a good specificity with little adsorption to staphylococcal enterotoxin A, C and Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+) was obtained. Moreover, the immunosensor exhibited a good long-time stability at 4 °C reaching up to 60 days, which showed a relatively long working life. Meanwhile the immunosensor could be regenerated four times using NaOH elution. The sensor also displayed a good repeatability with a relative standard deviation of 5.02% for staphylococcal enterotoxin B detection (1 ng/mL, n=9). Furthermore, high recoveries in milk samples from 81% to 118% were achieved and successfully applied to milk sample detection. The obtained results demonstrate that the developed electrochemical immunosensor is a promising tool for the detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B in food.