Multiplexed immunochromatographic test strip for time-resolved chemiluminescent detection of pesticide residues using a bifunctional antibody

Acetylcholinesterase-free colorimetric sensing platform for carbosulfan detection based on hollow PDA/MnO2 nanozyme

Rapid and accurate detection of carbosulfan residues in vegetables is important for ensuring food safety. Herein, based on the unique hydrolysis behavior of carbosulfan, a nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing platform was proposed for detection of carbosulfan. Hollow polydopamine/MnO2 nanoparticles (H-PDA/MnO2 NPs) with excellent oxidase-like activity were synthesized, which can promote the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) into blue oxidative product (oxTMB). Under acidic conditions, carbosulfan can be decomposed and produce reductive sulfide species (-SH), which are capable to disintegrate MnO2 NPs, resulting in decreased oxidase-like activity of H-PDA/MnO2 NPs. Based on the inhibitory effect on oxidase activity of H-PDA/MnO2 NPs, an acetylcholinesterase-free colorimetric assay was proposed for detection of carbosulfan with low limit of detection of 0.63 ng mL-1. Integrating test swabs with smartphone, a portable colorimetric sensor was constructed, showing great potential for on-site detection. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method, carbosulfan in real vegetable samples were determined.

Lateral flow assays: Progress and evolution of recent trends in point-of-care applications

Paper based point-of-care (PoC) detection platforms applying lateral flow assays (LFAs) have gained paramount approval in the diagnostic domain as well as in environmental applications owing to their ease of utility, low cost, and rapid signal readout. It has centralized the aspect of self-evaluation exhibiting promising potential in the last global pandemic era of Covid-19 implementing rapid management of public health in remote areas. In this perspective, the present review is focused towards landscaping the current framework of LFAs along with integration of components and characteristics for improving the assay by pushing the detection limits. The review highlights the synergistic aspects of assay designing, sample enrichment strategies, novel nanomaterials-based signal transducers, and high-end analytical techniques that contribute significantly towards sensitivity and specificity enhancement. Various recent studies are discussed supporting the innovations in LFA systems that focus upon the accuracy and reliability of rapid PoC testing. The review also provides a comprehensive overview of all the possible difficulties in commercialization of LFAs subjecting its applicability to pathogen surveillance, water and food testing, disease diagnostics, as well as to agriculture and environmental issues.

Accelerated Development of a COVID-19 Lateral Flow Test in an Academic Setting: Lessons Learned

The COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrated the need for usable, reliable, and cost-effective point-of-care diagnostics that can be broadly deployed, ideally for self-testing at home. Antigen tests using more-detectable reporter labels (usually at the cost of reader complexity) achieve better diagnostic sensitivity, supporting the value of higher-analytical-sensitivity reporter technologies in lateral flow.We developed a new approach to simple, inexpensive lateral flow assays (LFAs) of great sensitivity, based on the glow stick peroxyoxalate chemistry widely used in emergency settings and in children's toys. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had the opportunity to participate in the pandemic-driven NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative aiming to develop a deployable lateral flow diagnostic for SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein based on our novel glow stick-inspired light-emitting reporter technology. During this project, we screened more than 250 antibody pairs for analytical sensitivity and specificity directly in LFA format, using recombinant nucleoprotein and then gamma-irradiated virions spiked into negative nasal swab extracts. Membranes and other LFA materials and swabs and extraction reagent components also were screened and selected. Optimization of conjugate preparation and spraying as well as pretreatment/conditioning of the sample pad led to the final optimized LFA strip. Technology development also included optimization of excitation liquid enclosed in disposable droppers, design of a custom cartridge and smartphone-based reader, and app development, even a prototype reader usable with any mobile phone. Excellent preclinical performance was first demonstrated with contrived samples and then with leftover clinical samples. Moving beyond traditional academic focus areas, we were able to establish a quality management system (QMS), produce large numbers of customized LFA cassettes by contract injection molding, build in-house facilities to assemble and store thousands of complete tests for verification and validation and usability studies, and source kitting/packaging services and quality standard reagents and build partnerships for clinical translation, regulatory guidance, scale up, and market deployment. We were not able to bring this early stage technology to the point of commercialization within the limited time and resources available, but we did achieve strong proof-of-concept and advance translational aspects of the platform including initial high-performance LFAs, reading by the iPhone app using only a $2 plastic dark box with no lens, and convenient, usable excitation liquid packaging in droppers manufacturable in very large numbers.In this Account, we aim to provide a concise overview of our 18-month sprint toward the practical development of a deployable antigen lateral flow assay under pandemic conditions and the challenges and successes experienced by our team. We highlight what it takes to coach a technically savvy but commercially inexperienced academic team through the accelerated translation of an early stage technology into a useful product. Finally, we provide a guided tutorial and workflow to empower others interested in the rapid development of translatable LFAs.

Post-Assay Chemical Enhancement for Highly Sensitive Lateral Flow Immunoassays: A Critical Review

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has found a broad application for testing in point-of-care (POC) settings. LFIA is performed using test strips-fully integrated multimembrane assemblies containing all reagents for assay performance. Migration of liquid sample along the test strip initiates the formation of labeled immunocomplexes, which are detected visually or instrumentally. The tradeoff of LFIA's rapidity and user-friendliness is its relatively low sensitivity (high limit of detection), which restricts its applicability for detecting low-abundant targets. An increase in LFIA's sensitivity has attracted many efforts and is often considered one of the primary directions in developing immunochemical POC assays. Post-assay enhancements based on chemical reactions facilitate high sensitivity. In this critical review, we explain the performance of post-assay chemical enhancements, discuss their advantages, limitations, compared limit of detection (LOD) improvements, and required time for the enhancement procedures. We raise concerns about the performance of enhanced LFIA and discuss the bottlenecks in the existing experiments. Finally, we suggest the experimental workflow for step-by-step development and validation of enhanced LFIA. This review summarizes the state-of-art of LFIA with chemical enhancement, offers ways to overcome existing limitations, and discusses future outlooks for highly sensitive testing in POC conditions.

The potential of monoclonal antibodies for colorectal cancer therapy

Conventional chemotherapy has significant limitations for colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, especially those who have developed metastatic recurrence CRC. A growing number of studies have investigated the potential use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for CRC therapy. mAbs showing clinical benefits for CRC, making the treatment more selective with lower side effects without significant immunogenicity. In addition, recent advancements in antibody engineering strategies and the development of bifunctional or even trifunctional drugs have helped to overcome heterogeneity as the main challenge in cancer treatment. The current review discusses advances in applying mAbs for CRC therapy alone, combined, or with small molecules.

Aptamer recognition-promoted hybridization chain reaction for amplified label-free and enzyme-free fluorescence analysis of pesticide

Development of high-performance fluorescence sensors for pesticide is highly urgent but remains a grand challenge. It is due to that most of known fluorescence sensors detect pesticides based on enzyme-inhibited strategy, which requires high-price cholinesterase, suffers from serious interference of reductive materials, and can't difference pesticides with each other; the known aptamer-based fluorescence ones entail tool enzymes or nanomaterials to transducer/amplify the signal and demand signalers to be tagged in nucleic acid, which are expensive and intricate. Herein, we develop a novel aptamer-based fluorescence system for label-free, enzyme-free and highly sensitive detection of pesticide (profenofos) based on target-initiated hybridization chain reaction (HCR)-assisted signal amplification and specific intercalation of N-methylmesoporphyrin IX (NMM) in G-quadruplex DNA. Hairpin probe ON1 recognizes profenofos to generate profenofos@ON1 complex, which switches the HCR to yield multiple G-quadruplex DNA, consequently making large numbers of NMM be locked. In comparison with profenofos absence, a sharply improved fluorescence signal was recorded and it was dependent on profenofos dose. Hence, label-free, enzyme-free and highly sensitive detection of profenofos is achieved with limit of detection of 0.085 nM, which compared favorably with or superior to those of known fluorescence methods. Furthermore, the present method was applied to determine the profenofos residue in rice with agreeable result, and will provide more valuable information for guaranteeing the pesticide-related food safety.

Immunochromatographic Assay based on Sc-TCPP 3D MOF for the rapid detection of imidacloprid in food samples

In this work, a highly sensitive immunochromatographic test strip (ITS) based on Scandium-Tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) metal-organic framework nanocubes (ScTMNs) was developed for ultrasensitive and facile visual determination of imidacloprid (IDP). TCPP as the porphyrin-based planar ligand and Sc³⁺ as the metal center were applied to form the ScTMNs via coordination chelation. Giving the credit to its excellent optical characteristics, strong affinity with monoclonal antibodies, and favorable biocompatibility, the ScTMNs was selected as a signal tag. Under optimized conditions, the ITS exhibited a great liner relationship in the range of 0.04-3 ng/mL and the detection limit was 0.04 ng/mL for the IDP detection. Additionally, IDP was successfully detected in tomatoes, millet, corn and carrot samples with satisfied recoveries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that ScTMNs have been used in immunochromatography which are expected to have potential applications in detection of other substances.

Recent Advances in Rapid Detection Techniques for Pesticide Residue: A Review

As an important chemical pollutant affecting the safety of agricultural products, the on-site and efficient detection of pesticide residues has become a global trend and hotspot in research. These methodologies were developed for simplicity, high sensitivity, and multiresidue detection. This review introduces the currently available technologies based on electrochemistry, optical analysis, biotechnology, and some innovative and novel technologies for the rapid detection of pesticide residues, focusing on the characteristics, research status, and application of the most innovative and novel technologies in the past 10 years, and analyzes challenges and future development prospects. The current review could be a good reference for researchers to choose the appropriate research direction in pesticide residue detection.

Optical sensing techniques for rapid detection of agrochemicals: Strategies, challenges, and perspectives

In recent years, the irrational use of agrochemicals has caused great harm to the environment and public health. Along with the rapid development of optical technology and nanotechnology, the research of optical sensing methods in agrochemical detection has been developed rapidly owing to its advantages of simplicity, fast response, and cost-effectiveness. In this review, the strategies of employing optical systems based on colorimetric sensor, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, terahertz spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for sensing agrochemicals were summarized. In addition, the challenges in the practical application of optical sensing technologies for agrochemical detection were discussed in-depth, and potential future trends and prospects of these techniques were addressed. A variety of nanomaterials have been developed for enhancing the sensitivity of optical sensing systems. The optical properties of nanomaterials are governed by their size, shape, and chemical structure. Although each optical sensing system holds its advantages, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome in practical applications. With the continuous developments in novel functional nanomaterials, sample preparation methods, and spectral processing algorithms, optical sensors are expected to have powerful potential for rapid testing of agrochemicals in the environment and foods.

Ultrasensitive antibody production strategy based on hapten property for simultaneous immunoassay

A high-quality antibody production strategy is significant for immunoassay. In this work, four general haptens were proposed based on the 3D structure and surface electrostatic potential of molecular modeling. It was found that the sensitivity and specificity of polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) mainly depended on the bond angle of shapes liked "V" between haptens and proteins and hydrophobic parts of haptens. The quantified process was employed to obtain pAbs against cyhalofop-butyl and its metabolites (CAFs), with the IC₅₀ value of 4.9 μg·L^-1 under optimal conditions. The limit of quantization (LOQ) of the ultrasensitive icELISA in brown rice was 2 μg·kg^-1. The recoveries were 74%-110%, with a coefficient of variation (CV) less than 10%. This study indicated that the hapten property approach led to an improved immunoassay.

Single-atom Ce-N-C nanozyme bioactive paper with a 3D-printed platform for rapid detection of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticide residues

Rapid detection of pesticide residues based on enzyme mimics has recently attracted much interest. However, most nanozymes have low activity. Herein, a "single-atom Ce-N-C nanozyme" (SACe-N-C nanozyme) was rationally devised and verified to mimic peroxidase (POD-like) with superior activity. Based on its high POD-like activities and cascaded catalytic reactions with acetylcholinesterase (AChE), we constructed a bioactive paper for the detection of pesticide residues, which offered a portable approach to monitor fruits and vegetables within 30 min. More importantly, a 3D printed platform was integrated on the basis of SACe-N-C bioactive paper to achieve on-site portable testing of omethoate, methamidophos, carbofuran, and carbosulfan, showing limits of detection (LODs) of 55.83, 71.51, 81.81, and 74.98 ng/mL, respectively. The recovery rates were 84.09-104.68%. This study provided new insight into the design of novel single-atom nanozymes for cascaded catalytic detection and other rapid detection applications with high efficiency and low cost.

A novel electrochemiluminescence sensor based on a molecular imprinting technique and UCNPs@ZIF-8 nanocomposites for sensitive determination of imidacloprid

An MIT-ECL sensor for IM detection based on UCNPs@ZIF-8 nanocomposites.

Novel dual immunochromatographic test strip based on double antibodies and biotin-streptavidin system for simultaneous sensitive detection of aflatoxin M1 and ochratoxin A in milk

The coexistence of mycotoxins in agricultural products poses a serious threat to food safety. This study developed a dual immunochromatographic test strips (DICTS) method based on double antibodies labeled with time-resolved fluorescent microspheres (TRFM) to realize simultaneous rapid detection of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in milk. As bridge antibody, the polyclonal antibody (pAb) was first conjugated with the TRFM and then with the monoclonal antibody (mAb). Meanwhile, a biotin-streptavidin system was introduced to replace the traditional goat anti-mouse Immunoglobulin G, thus providing a stable signal on the control line. After optimization, the detection limit of AFM1 and OTA in milk was respectively 0.018 and 0.036 ng/mL. The recoveries of intraassay and interassay experiments ranged from 89.65% to 103.99%. The accuracy, repeatability, and specificity of the developed TRFM-DICTS were estimated. The results of TRFM-DICTS showed a high consistency with those of the ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Sensitive Techniques for POCT Sensing on the Residues of Pesticides and Veterinary Drugs in Food

For the immense requirement on agriculture and animal husbandry, application of pesticides and veterinary drugs had become a normal state in the farming and ranching areas. However, to intently pursue the yields, large quantities of residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs have caused serious harm to both the environment and the food industry. To control and solve such an issue, a variety of novel techniques were developed in recent years. In this review, the development and features about point-of-care-testing (POCT) detection on the residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, such as, electrochemistry (EC), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nano-techniques, were systematically introduced. For each topic, we first interpreted the strategies and detailed account of such technical contributions on detection and assessment of the residues. Finally, the advantages and perspectives about mentioned techniques for ultrasensitive assessment and sensing on pesticides and veterinary drugs were summarized.

Recent Advances on Detection of Insecticides Using Optical Sensors

Insecticides are enormously important to industry requirements and market demands in agriculture. Despite their usefulness, these insecticides can pose a dangerous risk to the safety of food, environment and all living things through various mechanisms of action. Concern about the environmental impact of repeated use of insecticides has prompted many researchers to develop rapid, economical, uncomplicated and user-friendly analytical method for the detection of insecticides. In this regards, optical sensors are considered as favorable methods for insecticides analysis because of their special features including rapid detection time, low cost, easy to use and high selectivity and sensitivity. In this review, current progresses of incorporation between recognition elements and optical sensors for insecticide detection are discussed and evaluated well, by categorizing it based on insecticide chemical classes, including the range of detection and limit of detection. Additionally, this review aims to provide powerful insights to researchers for the future development of optical sensors in the detection of insecticides.

Recent developments in non-enzymatic (bio)sensors for detection of pesticide residues: Focusing on antibody, aptamer and molecularly imprinted polymer

The utilization of pesticides has been increased in recent years due to population growth and increasing urbanization. The constant use of pesticides has resulted in contamination of the environment and agricultural products with serious human health concerns associated with their use. Therefore, detection and quantification of pesticides by sensitive and selective methods is highly required in food safety management. Traditional detection methods cannot realize highly sensitive, selective and on-site detection, which limits their application. (Bio)sensors and (bio)assays are emerging tools with unique properties such as rapid, sensitive, efficient and portable detection. Among them, enzyme-based biosensors have been widely developed and some have even been commercialized. However, they suffer from some limitations such as instability and low reproducibility that originate from the nature of enzyme. Non-enzymatic (bio)sensors overcome the current limitations of enzyme-based detection methods and provide great potential for efficient, highly sensitive and low-cost detection assays using smart and miniaturized devices. In this study, we provide an overview of recent advances and new trends in optical and electrochemical non-enzymatic (bio)sensors for the detection of pesticides by focusing on antibody, aptamer and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as recognition elements. Performance, advantages and drawbacks of the developed (bio)sensors are discussed well. The main advantage these recognition elements is their stability over an extended period of time compared to the enzymes. Furthermore, the combination of nanomaterials in these (bio)sensors can significantly improve their performance.

Broad-spectrum electrochemical immunosensor based on one-step electrodeposition of AuNP-Abs and Prussian blue nanocomposite for organophosphorus pesticide detection

Broad-spectrum antibodies can effectively recognize substances with similar structures and have broad application prospects in field rapid detection. In this study, broad-spectrum antibodies (Abs) against organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) were used as sensitive recognition elements, which could effectively recognize most OPs. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have good biocompatibility. It combined with Abs to form a gold-labeled probe (AuNPs-Abs), which enhances the effective binding of antibodies to nanomaterials. Prussian blue (PB) was added to electrodeposition solution to enhance the conductivity, resulting in superior electrochemical performance. The AuNP-Abs-PB composite film was prepared by electrodeposition on the electrode surface to improve the anti-interference ability and stability of the immunosensor. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the immunosensor had a wide detection range (IC₂₀-IC₈₀: 1.82 × 10^-3-3.29 × 10⁴ ng/mL) and high sensitivity. Most importantly, it was simple to be prepared and could be used to detect multiple OPs.

A review of recent developments based on chemiluminescence detection systems for pesticides analysis

Chemiluminescence is one of the most coveted methods for sensitive determination of pesticides in food and environmental samples. To date, many methods have been developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of pesticides, ranging from traditional to advanced methods. This study outlines the progress in the conventional and advanced analytical methods, coupled to a chemiluminescence detection system, that are employed for the determination of pesticides in food and environmental samples. Different analytical methods including chromatographic methods, flow-based systems, and paper-based systems are reviewed in this paper. As well, new advances in the application of nanomaterials, aptamer, and molecularly imprinted polymers are highlighted. We also address the challenges and difficulties associated with these methods. Finally, we highlight the future direction in this active field of research.

Co Single-Atom Catalysts Boost Chemiluminescence

Co single-atom catalysts (SACs) with good aqueous solubility and abundant labelling functional groups were prepared in Co/Fe bimetallic metal-organic frameworks by a facile solvothermal method without high-temperature calcination. In contrast to traditional chemiluminescence (CL) catalysts, Co SACs accelerated decomposition of H₂ O₂ to produce a large amount of singlet oxygen (¹ O₂ ) rather than superoxide (O₂ ^.- ) and hydroxyl radical (OH^. ). They were found to dramatically enhance the CL emission of the luminol-H₂ O₂ reaction by 1349 times, and, therefore, were employed as very sensitive signal probes for conducting CL immunoassay of cardiac troponin I. The detection limit of the target analyte was as low as 3.3 pg mL^-1 . It is the first time that employment of SACs for boosting CL reactions has been validated. The Co SACs can also be employed to trace other biorecognition events with high sensitivity.

A beta-cyclodextrin-functionalized magnetic metal organic framework for efficient extraction and determination of prochloraz and triazole fungicides in vegetables samples

A β-cyclodextrin-functionalized magnetic zinc-metal organic framework (M-MOF/β-CD) was synthesized via a facile one-pot reaction. M-MOF/β-CD was used as a magnetic porous absorbent for the extraction and determination of prochloraz and three triazole fungicides in vegetable samples. M-MOF/β-CD was prepared by creating MOF layers on the surface of a Fe₃O₄-graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite and bonding them with β-CD molecules. Characterization suggested that a 3D porous structure was formed, with M-MOF/β-CD exhibiting high superparamagnetism and a large surface area. As a new strategy, integrating MOFs with Fe₃O₄-GO could improve their water-resistance and mechanical strength by providing a rigid nanosupport interface. Combining M-MOF and β-CD resulted in excellent selective adsorption capacities for prochloraz and three triazole fungicides. The static adsorption process was evaluated and the results were in good agreement with the Freundlich model. Subsequently, M-MOF/β-CD was applied to extracting prochloraz and triazole fungicides from tomato and lettuce vegetables, followed by HPLC-MS/MS determination. The limits of detection for the above fungicides were found to be 0.25-1.0 μg/L at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, with spiked recoveries of 74.13%-119.83%, indicating that M-MOF/β-CD was promising for application to the extraction and determination of fungicides in complex matrices.

Integrating Target-Responsive Hydrogels with Smartphone for On-Site ppb-Level Quantitation of Organophosphate Pesticides

Precise on-site profiling of organophosphate pesticides (OPs) is of significant importance for monitoring pollution and estimating poisoning. Herein, we designed a simple and convenient portable kit based on Ag⁺-responsive hydrogels for accurate detection of OPs. The newly developed hydrogels employed o-phenylenediamine (OPD) and silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) as indicator, which possessed ratiometric response. In this sensor, OPs as inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase prevented the generation of thiocholine, which blocked the formation of metal-polymer with Ag⁺, further triggered the oxidation of OPD to yield yellow 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) with fluorescence emission at 557 nm. The fluorescence intensity of SiQDs (444 nm) was quenched by DAP through inner filter effect (IFE) process, emerging a typical ratiometric response. Interestingly, the ratiometric signal of kit, which was recorded by smartphone's camera, can be transduced by ImageJ software into the hue parameter that was linearly proportional to the concentration of OPs. The simplicity of portable kit combined with smartphone operation, which possessed high sensitivity (detection limit <10 ng mL^-1) and rapid sample-to-answer detection time (45 min) in agricultural sample, indicating that the methodology offered a new sight for portable monitoring of food safety and human health.

Pt-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets amplified two-way lateral flow immunoassays with smartphone readout for quantification of pesticides

Excessive use of herbicide and insecticide causes bioaccumulation in the environment and increases potential toxicity for people and animals. Portable systems for rapid assays of herbicide and insecticide residues have attracted prominent interests. Here, we developed a two-dimensional (2D) Pt-Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets (NSs) amplified two-way lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) with a smartphone-based readout for simultaneous detection of acetochlor and fenpropathrin. The 2D Pt-Ni(OH)₂ NSs were synthesized and used as the enhanced signal label in the immunoassay due to their high peroxidase-like activity and low migration speed. The two-way LFI was designed to eliminate potential cross-reaction between two targets. Portable detection system was developed based on a smartphone-based readout, which scans the LFI and provides the accurate testing result. The universal use of smartphones makes the developed platform suitable for cheap and on-site applications. Using the integrated platform, detection of acetochlor and fenpropathrin simultaneously was successfully achieved with the detection limits of 0.63 ng/mL and 0.24 ng/mL, respectively. To confirm the performance of the on-site application, we detected 10 non-spiked samples and 3 spiked samples. The obtained detection results were consistent with the data from gas chromatography analysis. The estimated recoveries ranged from 97.12% to 111.46%, indicating the practical reliability of our developed assay. The developed smartphone-based platform exhibits enhanced sensitivity, which provides a promising technique for on-site, multiplex, highly sensitive detection of pesticides.

Quantitative assessment of disease markers using the naked eye: point-of-care testing with gas generation-based biosensor immunochromatographic strips

BACKGROUND

Immunochromatographic strips (ICSs) are a practical tool commonly used in point-of-care testing (POCT) applications. However, ICSs that are currently available have low sensitivity and require expensive equipment for quantitative analysis. These limitations prohibit their extensive use in areas where medical resources are scarce.

METHODS

We developed a novel POCT platform by integrating a gas generation biosensor with Au@Pt Core/Shell nanoparticle (Au@PtNPs)-based ICSs (G-ICSs). The resulting G-ICSs enabled the convenient and quantitative assessment of a target protein using the naked eye, without the need for auxiliary equipment or complicated computation. To assess this platform, C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker commonly used for the diagnosis of acute, infectious diseases was chosen as a proof-of-concept test.

RESULTS

The linear detection range (LDR) of the G-ICSs for CRP was 0.05-6.25 μg/L with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.041 μg/L. The G-ICSs had higher sensitivity and wider LDR when compared with commonly used AuNPs and fluorescent-based ICSs. When compared with results from a chemiluminescent immunoassay, G-ICS concordance rates for CRP detection in serum samples ranged from 93.72 to 110.99%.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrated that G-ICSs have wide applicability in family diagnosis and community medical institutions, especially in areas with poor medical resources.

A Lateral Flow Immunochromato-graphic Strip Test for Rapid Detection of Oseltamivir Phosphate in Egg and Chicken Meat

A lateral flow immunochromatographic strip test (LFIST) based on a competitive format was developed for rapid and sensitive on-site detection of oseltamivir phosphate (OP) residues in poultry product. The sensitivity (half inhibitory concentration, IC₅₀) of the LFIST in the detection of egg and chicken meat samples was confirmed to be 2.56 and 2.63 µg/kg, and the limit detection (LOD) value were 0.43 and 0.42 µg/kg, respectively. For intra-assay and inter-assay reproducibility, recoveries of OP spiked samples ranged between 82.8% and 91.2% with coefficients of variations (CV) less than 5.67% (intra-assay) and 6.52% (inter-assay). The performance of LFIST was comparable to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in a parallel testing of egg samples and chicken samples. LFIST takes less than 5 minutes, eliminates the dependency on professional personnel, and thus can be used as a surveillance tool for on-site detection of OP residues.

Evaluation of Pyridaben Residues on Fruit Surfaces and Their Stability by a Novel On-Line Dual-Frequency Ultrasonic Device and Chemiluminescence Detection

In this paper, we first report the development of a highly sensitive and economical method for accurate analysis of pyridaben residues on fruits based on dual-frequency ultrasonic treatment (DFUT) and flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) detection. The DFUT device is made by integrating an ultrasonic bath with an ultrasonic probe. Two quartz glass coils (QGC) with different structures have been designed and applied to evaluate the function of DFUT in the detection process. Recorded data showed that DFUT is an effective method for improving the pyridaben CL signal. The signal of pyridaben in response to DFUT is 2.0-3.3 times stronger than the response to only the ultrasonic probe at 20 kHz or the ultrasonic bath at 40 kHz. In addition, the response obtained from the concentric circle QGC is 2.1 times stronger than the response to the spiral tube QGC. Under the optimized condition, the proposed method has advantages, such as a wide linear range (0.8-100.0 μg L^-1), a high sensitivity (limit of detection of 0.085 μg L^-1), and good stability (RSDs ≤ 4.7% in the linear range) for pyridaben determination. We apply this method to monitor the residue pyridaben on some fruits. The data show that the maximum amounts of the residue on fruit surfaces after soaking in water (50 mg L^-1, 5 min) are 0.583 mg kg^-1 (apple), 0.794 mg kg^-1 (orange), and 0.351 mg kg^-1 (pear). However, the concentration of pyridaben in the presence of sunlight decreases rapidly, showing its poor light stability.

Novel Biomimic Crystalline Colloidal Array for Fast Detection of Trace Parathion

A novel gold doped inverse opal photonic crystal (IO PC) was successfully fabricated with combination of molecularly imprinted technical for the fast determination of parathion. First, a closest silica array arrangement behaved as the 3D photonic crystal precursors to build the opal photonic crystal (O PC). Second, the parathion-containing polymeric solution with gold nanoparticles was drawn into the 3D array cracks. After polymerization, the well-designed O PC was treated with HF solution for the etching of the silica skeleton. Finally, the template parathion was removed and the Au-MIP IO PCs were obtained. The morphology of SiO₂ and Au NPs was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the eluted influence of the IO PCs was monitored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cross-linking effect was well optimized according to the best spectrum signal of parathion. The as-synthesized Au-MIP IO PCs displayed the specificity toward parathion and the selectivity to other competitive pesticide molecules. The response time was only 5 min, and the parathion could be well detected from real water samples. The recoveries were between 95.5% and 101.5%.