An immunochromatographic assay utilizing magnetic nanoparticles to detect major peanut allergen Ara h 1 in processed foods

Development of validated sandwich ELISA for detecting peanut allergen Ara h 3 in food

Peanut is an important food that can cause food allergies, often leading to moderate and severe allergic symptoms such as skin rashes, asthma, and even anaphylactic shock.Research indicates that Ara h 3 is one of the major peanut allergen. In order to establish a simple analytical method for detecting Ara h 3, we developed a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with antibodies that were induced from purified Ara h 3. The experimental results showed that the purified Ara h 3 had good purity, and we successfully prepared capture and detection antibodies. The method established in this study exhibited high specificity and did not cross-react with soybeans, cashew nuts, and sesame. For validation, including precision, recovery and sensitivity were in good condition. We also detected the Ara h 3 in peanut related foods. Overall, the ELISA developed in this study is a reliable method for Ara h 3 detection.

Exploiting the Potential of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Rapid Diagnosis Tests (RDTs): Nanoparticle-Antibody Conjugates and Color Development Strategies

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have emerged as a promising material in disease diagnostics due to their potential to enhance detection sensitivity, facilitate concentration and purification of target substances in diverse samples, and enable favorable color-based detection. In this study, antibody-conjugated MNPs were successfully synthesized and validated through two appropriate methods: the measurement of MNPs' size and the use of phosphatase methods. Additionally, three methods were suggested and implemented for developing color in MNPs-based immunoassay, including the formation of MNP aggregations, utilization of MNPs' peroxidase-like activity, and synthesis of dually-conjugated MNPs with both enzyme and antibody. In particular, color development utilizing nanoparticle aggregations was demonstrated to result in a more yellowish color as virus concentration increased, while the peroxidase activity of MNPs exhibited a proportional increase in color intensity as the MNP concentration increased. This observation suggests the potential applicability of quantitative analysis using these methods. Furthermore, effective concentration and purification of target substances were demonstrated through the collection of MNPs using an external magnetic field, irrespective of factors such as antibody conjugation, dispersion medium, or virus binding. Finally, based on the key findings of this study, a design proposal for MNPs-based immunoassay is presented. Overall, MNPs-based immunoassays hold significant potential for advancing disease diagnostics.

Food allergen analysis: A review of current gaps and the potential to fill them by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

Food allergy remains a public health, business, and regulatory challenge. Risk analysis (RA) and risk management (RM) of food allergens are of great importance and analysis for food allergens is necessary for both. The current workhorse techniques for allergen analysis (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] and real-time polymerase chain reaction) exhibit recognized challenges including variable and antibody specific responses and detection of species DNA rather than allergen protein, respectively. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) enables protein identification, with potential for multiplex analysis and traceability to the System of International units (SI), aiding global measurement standardization. In this review, recent literature has been systematically reviewed to assess progress in LC-MS/MS and define the potential and benefits of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight MS (MALDI-ToF-MS) technology for allergen analysis. MALDI-ToF-MS of initially intact protein is already applied to verify in silico-derived peptide sequences for LC-MS/MS analysis. We describe the origins of MALDI and its future perspectives, including affinity bead-assisted assays coupled to MALDI. Based on the proliferation of reliable and reproducible MALDI-based clinical applications, the technique should emulate the detection capability (sensitivity) of established allergen detection techniques, whilst reducing technical support and having equivalent multiplexing potential to competing techniques, for example, LC-MS/MS and ELISA. Although unlikely to offer inherent SI traceability, MALDI-based allergen analysis will complement existing MS approaches for allergens. Affinity bead-MALDI appears capable of higher throughput at lower cost per sample than almost any existing technique, enabling repeated sub-sampling as a way to reduce representative sampling issues.

Lateral flow immunoassays for antigens, antibodies and haptens detection

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is widely used as a rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) technique in food safety, veterinary and clinical detection on account of the accessible, fast and low-cost characteristics. After the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), different types of LFIAs have attracted considerable interest because of their ability of providing immediate diagnosis directly to users, thereby effectively controlling the outbreak. Based on the introduction of the principles and key components of LFIAs, this review focuses on the major detection formats of LFIAs for antigens, antibodies and haptens. With the rapid innovation of detection technologies, new trends of novel labels, multiplex and digital assays are increasingly integrated with LFIAs. Therefore, this review will also introduce the development of new trends of LFIAs as well as its future perspectives.

Recent Developments in Innovative Magnetic Nanoparticles-Based Immunoassays: From Improvement of Conventional Immunoassays to Diagnosis of COVID-19

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the development of point-of-care (POC) detection with high sensitivity and rapid detection time is urgently needed to prevent transmission of infectious diseases. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been considered attractive materials for enhancing sensitivity and reducing the detection time of conventional immunoassays due to their unique properties including magnetic behavior, high surface area, excellent stability, and easy biocompatibility. In addition, detecting target analytes through color development is necessary for user-friendly POC detection. In this review, recent advances in different types of MNPs-based immunoassays such as improvement of the conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunoassays based on the peroxidase-like activity of MNPs and based on the dually labeled MNPs, filtration method, and lateral-flow immunoassay are described and we analyze the advantages and strategies of each method. Furthermore, immunoassays incorporating MNPs for COVID-19 diagnosis through color development are also introduced, demonstrating that MNPs can become common tools for on-site diagnosis.