Time-resolved chemiluminescence strategy for multiplexed immunoassay of clenbuterol and ractopamine

Anthracycline-Functionalized Dextran as a New Signal Multiplication Tagging Approach for Immunoassay

The most used kind of immunoassay is enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); however, enzymes suffer from steric effects, low stability, and high cost. Our research group has been developing quinone-linked immunosorbent assay (QuLISA) as a new promising approach for stable and cost-efficient immunoassay. However, the developed QuLISA suffered from low water-solubility of synthesized quinone labels and their moderate sensitivity. Herein, we developed a new approach for signal multiplication of QuLISA utilizing the water-soluble quinone anthracycline, doxorubicin, coupled with dextran for signal multiplication. A new compound, Biotin-DexDox, was prepared in which doxorubicin was assembled on oxidized dextran 40, and then it was biotinylated. The redox-cycle-based chemiluminescence and the colorimetric reaction of Biotin-DexDox were optimized and evaluated, and they showed very good sensitivity down to 0.25 and 0.23 nM, respectively. Then, Biotin-DexDox was employed for the detection of biotinylated antibodies utilizing avidin as a binder and a colorimetric assay of the formed complex through its contained doxorubicin redox reaction with NaBH₄ and imidazolium salt yielding strong absorbance at 510 nm. The method could detect the plate-fixed antibody down to 0.55 nM. Hence, the application of Biotin-DexDox in QuLISA was successfully demonstrated and showed a significant improvement in its sensitivity and applicability to aqueous assays.

Defective Site Modulation Strategy for Preparing Single Atom-Dispersed Catalysts as Superior Chemiluminescent Signal Probes

Single atom-dispersed catalysts (SADCs) with highly exposed active sites can be used as sensitive signal probes because of their superior catalytic efficiency. However, the dispersed atoms tend to aggregate, restricting the loading capacity of metal atoms. Herein, the defective sites on Zr-oxo clusters of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) UiO-66-NH₂ were modulated by excessive acetic acid and utilized for confining metal atoms with high loading capacity. To verify the feasibility of the designed strategy, the Co element was loaded onto MOFs UiO-66-NH₂ to prepare SADCs with desirable Fenton-like activity. The prepared Co SADCs at a low concentration of 1.0 μg mL^-1 are found to boost chemiluminescent (CL) emission for 3700 times due to the significantly improved Co content of 5.55 wt %. The superior CL enhancement efficiency is ascribed to reactive oxygen species generated by the accelerated decay of H₂O₂. To verify the application potential in CL assay, they were used as signal probes to establish an immunoassay method for carbendazim with a dynamic range of 1.0 pg mL^-1 to 25 ng mL^-1 and a limit of detection of 0.33 pg mL^-1. This defective site modulation strategy paves an avenue for preparing SADCs with a high CL response by improving the loading capacity of metal atoms.

Highly Sensitive Colorimetric/Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Immunoassay Relying on a Metallic Core-Shell Au/Au Nanostar with Clenbuterol as a Target Analyte

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has emerged as an effective technique in the field of food safety and environmental monitoring. However, sensitive and quantitative detection is still challenging for LFIAs in complex environments. In this work, a dual-model colorimetric/SERS lateral flow immunoassay for ultrasensitive determination of clenbuterol was constructed based on a metallic core-shell Au/Au nanostar acting as a multifunction tag. Raman reporter molecules are located between the core (AuNP) and shell (Au nanostar) to form a sandwich structure, which contributes to eliminate the environmental interference and improve the detection stability. In addition, the Au/Au nanostar provides a much higher Raman enhancement due to the presence of sharp tips and larger surface roughness in comparison with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Thus, on the basis of the antibody-antigen interaction, the dual-model immunoassay can produce strong colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) signals for highly sensitive detection of the target analyte, clenbuterol. Under optimal conditions, clenbuterol could be detected by the colorimetric model with a visual detection limit of 5 ng/mL. Meanwhile, the SERS signal of the Au/Au nanostar was accumulated on the test line for the SERS model detection with a quantitative detection limit as low as 0.05 ng/mL, which is at least 200-fold lower than that of the traditional AuNPs-based immunoassay. Furthermore, recovery rates of the proposed method in food samples were 86-110%. This dual-model immunoassay provides an effective tool for antibiotic residues analysis and demonstrates a broad potential for future applications in food safety monitoring.

A smartphone-based biomedical sensory system

Disease diagnostics, food safety monitoring and environmental quality monitoring are the key means to safeguard human health. However, conventional detection devices for health care are costly, bulky and complex, restricting their applications in resource-limited areas of the world. With the rapid development of biosensors and the popularization of smartphones, smartphone-based sensing systems have emerged as novel detection devices that combine the sensitivity of biosensors and diverse functions of smartphones to provide a rapid, low-cost and convenient detection method. In these systems, a smartphone is used as a microscope to observe and count cells, as a camera to record fluorescence images, as an analytical platform to analyze experimental data, and as an effective tool to connect detection devices and online doctors. These systems are widely used for cell analysis, biochemical analysis, immunoassays, and molecular diagnosis, which are applied in the fields of disease diagnostics, food safety monitoring and environmental quality monitoring. Therefore, we discuss four types of smartphone-based sensing systems in this review paper, specifically in terms of the structure, performance and efficiency of these systems. Finally, we give some suggestions for improvement and future prospective trends.

Gold nanoparticle-based signal enhancement of an aptasensor for ractopamine using liquid crystal based optical imaging

The authors report on a method for the determination of ractopamine (RAC) via liquid crystal (LC) optical imaging and gold nanoparticle-induced signal enhancement. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were blended with the desired concentrations of RAC, and this is found to strongly improve the performance of the assay. The RAC aptamers were immobilized on the self-assembled film of a glass slide for specific recognition of RAC. This causes a homeotropic re-orientation of the LCs. Notably, the aptamers need not be immobilized on the nanoparticles like in other methods. The addition of RAC causes the formation of an AuNP-RAC-aptamer conjugate on the sensing interface. This disrupts the orientation of LCs and results in a change of the polarized images of the LCs. The method has a detection limit as low as 1 pM of RAC. Graphical abstract Schematic presentation of a method for the determination of ractopamine (RAC) using liquid crystal (LC) optical imaging and gold nanoparticle-induced signal enhancement. The aptamers need not be immobilized on the nanoparticles like in other methods.

Comparison of soybean peroxidase with horseradish peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase used in immunoassays

Enzyme labeling of an antigen or an antibody helps to visualize and amplify the signal and is an important reagent used in immunoassays for the detection of a target of interest. In this research, soybean peroxidase (SBP), a less commonly used enzyme reporter, was compared in immunoassays with the two most commonly used reagents, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The enzyme-antibody conjugates were evaluated by their performance in an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) and in an indirect competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (icCLEIA) for ractopamine (RAC). The results revealed that the more affordable SBP offers a long-lasting chemiluminescent signal, which outperformed ALP and HRP. SBP-antibody conjugate (SBP-Ab) based immunoassays produced lower limits of detection (LODs) and better accuracy in the detection of RAC in animal urine samples. Additionally, SBP-Ab has advantages in being more resistant to heat, acid and organic solvents. These results suggest that SBP could be a potentially excellent alternative to HRP and ALP for the development of immunoassay in food safety field.

A novel colorimetric immunosensor based on platinum colloid nanoparticles immobilized on PowerVision as signal probes and Fe3 O4 @β-cyclodextrin as capture probes for ractopamine detection in pork

BACKGROUND

A novel colorimetric immunosensor was developed for the simple, sensitive and selective detection of ractopamine (RAC) based on using β-cyclodextrin-modified Fe₃ O₄ particles (Fe₃ O₄ @β-CD) as capture probes and complex platinum colloid nanoparticles (PtNPs-PV) composed of platinum colloid nanoparticles (PtNPs) and polymerase chelate PowerVision (PV) as signal probes.

RESULTS

PtNPs-PV double catalyzed the chromogenic substrate 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB), which induced changes in the color of DAB and chromogenic absorbance. Incubation temperature, pH and incubation time were systematically optimized and, under optimum conditions, the measured absorbance values showed a linear relationship with the RAC concentrations in the range 0.03-8.1 ng mL^-1 . The detection limit was 0.01 ng mL^-1 . The sensor exhibited high sensitivity and specificity, as demonstrated by testing structurally similar organic compounds such as salbutamol, clenbuterol and dopamine. The practicality of the developed colorimetric immunosensor was supported by the successful detection of RAC in pork samples with recovery ranging from 94.00% to 106.00%.

CONCLUSION

We designed a novel sandwich-type noncompetitive colorimetric immunoassay for the detection of trace levels of RAC in pork. The proposed method can also be used for the detection of toxins in food products via PtNPs-PV amplification. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Novel ractopamine-protein carrier conjugation and its application to the lateral flow strip test for ractopamine detection in animal feed

In this work, a novel conjugate of ractopamine and bovine serum albumin (RAC-BSA) has been developed via the Mannich reaction, with a mole coupling ratio for RAC-BSA of 9:1. The proposed conjugation method provides a simple and one-step method with the use of fewer reagents compared with other conjugation methods for competitive immunoassays. RAC-BSA conjugation was used to fabricate a competitive lateral flow strip test for RAC detection in animal feed. For sample preparation, RAC was spiked in swine feed purchased from the local markets in Thailand, and methanol and running buffer at a volume ratio of 10:90 was used as extraction buffer. The procedures for sample preparation were completed within 25 min. Under optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD), assessed by the naked eye within 5 min, was found to be 1 ng/g. A semi-quantitative analysis was also conducted using a smart phone and computer software, with a linearity of 0.075-0.750 ng/g, calculated LOD of 0.10 ng/g, calculated limit of quantitation of 0.33 ng/g, and good correlation of 0.992. The recoveries were found in the range of 96.4%-103.7% with a relative standard deviation of 2.5%-3.6% for intra- and inter-assays. Comparison of the results obtained by the strip test with those obtained by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay had a good agreement in terms of accuracy. Furthermore, this strip test exhibited highly specific RAC detection without cross reactivity with related compounds. Therefore, the RAC-BSA conjugation via the Mannich reaction can be accepted as a one-step and easy conjugation method and applied to the competitive lateral flow strip test.

A paper-based competitive lateral flow immunoassay for multi β-agonist residues by using a single monoclonal antibody labelled with red fluorescent nanoparticles

An ultrasensitive paper based lateral flow assay is described for rapid and simultaneous fluorometric detection of several β-agonists including clenbuterol and its chemical analogues (mabuterol, brombuterol, cimaterol, cimbuterol, bromchlorbuterol and banbuterol). A nonspecific monoclonal antibody (mAb) against clenbuterol and its analogues was prepared and employed in a competitive immunoassay where mAb conjugated to fluorescent nanoparticles and free β-agonists compete for the binding sites. This enables rapid screening for the 7 β-agonists in a single run that takes about 8 min. Detection limits for the seven β-agonists are <50 pg g⁻¹ of pork. Recoveries ranged from 69.5% to 102.4%, and relative standard deviations were ±15%. The assay was applied to the analysis of both using spiked and unspiked pork for β-agonists, and the results compare well to those obtained by HPLC-MS.

Graphical abstract

Universal simultaneous multiplex ELISA of small molecules in milk based on dual luciferases

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has become the most important and widely used rapid detection technology for food safety because of its simple operation, fast speed and high sensitivity. Multiplex synchronous detection is the goal of ELISA that is always pursuing for. However, the reported multiplex ELISAs have not truly realized synchronous detection because of the complex signal generation and collection procedures. Here, we developed a dual-luciferases competitive direct bioluminescent immunoassay (DBL-cdELISA) with only one substrate addition step followed immediately by simultaneous signal acquisition. It is the first report of simultaneous multiplex analysis of small molecules based on microtiter plates and enzymes without any additional steps. The IC₅₀ values for norfloxacin (NOR) and sulfamethazine (SMZ) were 0.051 ng mL^-1 and 0.211 ng mL^-1, respectively. The results demonstrated that the application of different luciferases and substrates simplified the signal generation and collection procedures and enabled simultaneous detection of small molecules with a simple procedure, high throughput and fast speed, that will be of great significance for the development of multiple assays.

Simultaneous detection of clenbuterol and ractopamine based on multiplexed competitive surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) immunoassay

In this work, we demonstrate a competitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) immunoassay for multiplexed detection of clenbuterol and ractopamine.

Novel ultrasensitive homogeneous electrochemical aptasensor based on dsDNA-templated copper nanoparticles for the detection of ractopamine

Herein, we describe a novel homogenous electrochemical aptasensor for the ultrasensitive detection of ractopamine (RAC) based on the signal amplification of a hairpin DNA cascade amplifier (HDCA) and electrocatalysis of dsDNA-templated copper nanoparticles.

Development and Application of a Gel-Based Immunoassay for the Rapid Screening of Salbutamol and Ractopamine Residues in Pork

Salbutamol (SAL) and ractopamine (RAC) have been illegally used to promote protein synthesis and to increase the feed conversion rate in livestock. However, the residues of SAL and RAC could cause potential hazards for human health. The Ministry of Agriculture of China banned the use of SAL and RAC as growth promoters. In this paper, we provide detailed information on developing a rapid and sensitive gel-based immunoassay for on-site screening of SAL and RAC residues in pork. The detection time was shortened to 20 min. The limits of detection were 0.5 μg/kg for both SAL and RAC by visual detection, whereas the quantitative gel-based immunoassay enabled the detection of SAL (0.051 μg/kg) and RAC (0.020 μg/kg) in spiked pork samples. The gel-based immunoassay showed promise as a multiplexed immunoassay for on-site surveilling of SAL and RAC residues in pork.

Simultaneous detection of forbidden chemical residues in milk using dual-label time-resolved reverse competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay based on amine group functionalized surface

In this study, a sensitive dual-label time-resolved reverse competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay was developed for simultaneous detection of chloramphenicol (CAP) and clenbuterol (CLE) in milk. The strategy was performed based on the distinction of the kinetic characteristics of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in chemiluminesecence (CL) systems and different orders of magnitude in HRP CL value for CAP and ALP CL value for CLE in the chemiluminescent immunoassay. Capture antibodies were covalently bound to the amine group functionalized chemiluminescent microtiter plate (MTP) for efficient binding of detection antibodies for the enzymes labeled CAP (HRP-CAP) and CLE (ALP-CLE). The CL signals were recorded at different time points by the automatic luminometers with significant distinction in the dynamic curves. When we considered the ALP CL value (about 10(5)) of CLE as background for HRP CL signal value (about 10(7)) of CAP, there was no interaction from ALP CL background of CLE and the differentiation of CAP and CLE can be easily achieved. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) values of CAP and CLE in milk samples were 0.00501 µg L(-1) and 0.0128 µg L(-1), with the ranges from 0.0003 µg L(-1) to 0.0912 µg L(-1) and from 0.00385 µg L(-1) to 0.125 µg L(-1), respectively. The developed method is more sensitive and of less duration than the commercial ELISA kits, suitable for simultaneous screening of CAP and CLE.