Electrochemiluminescence flow injection immunoassay for atrazine

Self-assembly and sensor response of photosynthetic reaction centers on screen-printed electrodes

Photosynthetic reaction centers were immobilized onto gold screen-printed electrodes (Au-SPEs) using a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) which was deliberately defective in order to achieve effective mediator transfer to the electrodes. The pure Photosystem II (PS II) cores from spinach immobilize onto the electrodes very efficiently but fair badly in terms of photocurrent response (measured using duroquinone as the redox mediator). The cruder preparation of PS II known as BBY particles performs significantly better under the same experimental conditions and shows a photocurrent response of 20-35 nA (depending on preparation) per screen-printed electrode surface (12.5mm(2)). The data was corroborated using AFM, showing that in the case of BBY particles a defective biolayer is indeed formed, with grooves spanning the whole thickness of the layer enhancing the possibility of mass transfer to the electrodes and enabling biosensing. In comparison, the PS II core layer showed ultra-dense organization, with additional formation of aggregates on top of the single protein layer, thus blocking mediator access to the electrodes and/or binding sites. The defective monolayer biosensor with BBY particles was successfully applied for the detection of photosynthesis inhibitors, demonstrating that the inhibitor binding site remained accessible to both the inhibitor and the external redox mediator. Biosensing was demonstrated using picric acid and atrazine. The detection limits were 1.15 nM for atrazine and 157 nM for picric acid.

Electro-chemiluminescent biosensing

The present review draws a general picture of the bioanalytical applications of electro-chemiluminescent reactions (ECL). Only the two main ECL reactions-i.e. the luminol-based and Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)-based reactions-are considered for application in the fields of enzyme biosensors, immunochemical biosensors, DNA biosensors, and biochips. The mechanism, principle, and experimental conditions of these two reactions are described. Then, for each category of analytical tools, experimental set-ups and performances are presented and discussed.

Heavy phosphate adsorption on amorphous ITO film electrodes: nano-barrier effect for highly selective exclusion of anionic species

We prepared an amorphous indium tin oxide (ITO) film and studied it with respect to its surface characterization and the effect of phosphate adsorption on its electrochemical properties. The film was deposited using RF sputtering under ambient low-oxygen conditions at room temperature. The XPS results revealed that the amount of phosphate adsorbed on the amorphous ITO film was more than 4.6 times greater than that adsorbed on commercially available polycrystalline ITO film in spite of the smaller microscopic surface area of the former. Electrochemical responses for anionic species such as L-ascorbic acid (AA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) on the phosphate-adsorbed ITO film electrodes were more effectively suppressed at the amorphous ITO film electrode than at the polycrystalline ITO film electrode when a phosphate-containing electrolyte was used. Such suppression could be attributed to the electrostatic repulsion between the anionic species and more heavily adsorbed phosphate on our amorphous ITO film electrode surface. This effect is made more pronounced by increasing the phosphate concentration to 1 mM. With 1 mM phosphate, the amorphous ITO film electrode showed the highest selectivity for dopamine (DA) against the anionic species, namely, 880 for DA/AA and 330 for DA/DOPAC, respectively. In contrast, the selectivity was 120 for DA/AA and 20 for DA/DOPAC with the polycrystalline ITO film electrode.

A disposable electrochemical immunosensor for flow injection immunoassay of carcinoembryonic antigen

A new simple immunoassay method for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) detection using a disposable immunosensor coupled with a flow injection system was developed. The immunosensor was prepared by coating CEA/colloid Au/chitosan membrane at a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). Using a competitive immunoassay format, the immunosensor inserted in the flow system with an injection of sample and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled CEA antibody was used to trap the labeled antibody at room temperature for 35 min. The current response obtained from the labeled HRP to thionine-H(2)O(2) system decreased proportionally to the CEA concentration in the range of 0.50-25 ng/ml with a correlation coefficient of 0.9981 and a detection limit of 0.22 ng/ml (S/N=3). The immunoassay system could automatically control the incubation, washing and current measurement steps with good stability and acceptable accuracy. Thus, the proposed method proved its potential use in clinical immunoassay of CEA.

Microfluidic enzyme immunoassay using silicon microchip with immobilized antibodies and chemiluminescence detection

Silicon microchips with immobilized antibodies were used to develop microfluidic enzyme immunoassays using chemiluminescence detection and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as the enzyme label. Polyclonal anti-atrazine antibodies were coupled to the silicon microchip surface with an overall dimension of 13.1 x 3.2 mm, comprising 42 porous flow channels of 235-microm depth and 25-microm width. Different immobilization protocols based on covalent or noncovalent modification of the silica surface with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) or 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GOPS), linear polyethylenimine (LPEI, MW 750,000), or branched polyethylenimine (BPEI, MW 25,000), followed by adsorption or covalent attachment of the antibody, were evaluated to reach the best reusability, stability, and sensitivity of the microfluidic enzyme immunoassay (microFEIA). Adsorption of antibodies on a LPEI-modified silica surface and covalent attachment to physically adsorbed BPEI lead to unstable antibody coatings. Covalent coupling of antibodies via glutaraldehyde (GA) to three different functionalized silica surfaces (APTES-GA, LPEI-GA, and GOPS-BPEI-GA) resulted in antibody coatings that could be completely regenerated using 0.4 M glycine/HCl, pH 2.2. The buffer composition was shown to have a dramatic effect on the assay stability, where the commonly used phosphate buffer saline was proved to be the least suitable choice. The best long-term stability was obtained for the LPEI-GA surface with no loss of antibody activity during one month. The detection limits in the microFEIA for the three different immuno surfaces were 45, 3.8, and 0.80 ng/L (209, 17.7, and 3.7 pM) for APTES-GA, LPEI-GA, and GOPS-BPEI-GA, respectively.

Electrochemiluminescence determination of 2',6'-difluorophenyl 10-methylacridan-9-carboxylate

Electrochemical oxidation of the acridan 2',6'-difluorophenyl 10-methylacridan-9-carboxylate produces the corresponding acridinium ester, which reacts with hydrogen peroxide forming a dioxetanone intermediate. Decomposition of the dioxetanone generates light at 430 nm when it relaxes to the ground state. The effect of pH and hydrogen peroxide concentration on this ECL reaction and on the stability of the acridan were investigated. At pH 8.0 and a hydrogen peroxide concentration of 10 mM, light emission from the ECL reaction was used to determine the acridan concentration with a detection limit of 54 pmol L(-1). Results suggest that acridan esters could be used as labels in ECL immunoassays and nucleotide assays.

Synthesis and characterization of two novel [Ru(bpy)(2)(phen)](2+)-based electrochemiluminescent labels

Two novel electrochemiluminescent labels, bis(2, 2'-bipyridine)[5-(3-carboxylic acid-propionamido)-1, 10-phenanthroline]ruthenium(II) hexafluorophosphate dihydrate and bis(2,2'-bipyridine)[5-(4-carboxylic acid-butanamido)-1, 10-phenanthroline]ruthenium(II) hexafluorophosphate dihydrate, were synthesized and confirmed by IRelemental analysis, and (1)H-NMR spectra were completely assigned using the (1)H-(1)H COSY technique. Cyclic voltammograms with different scan rates showed quasi-reversible electrochemical behaviour of the two Ru (II) complex labels in MeCN solution. Electronic absorption, photoluminescence and electrochemiluminescence of Ru(II) complexes were also characterized.

Separation-free electrochemical immunosensor for rapid determination of atrazine

A separation-free electrochemical immunoassay method for the detection of the pesticide atrazine is described. The method developed is a competitive ELISA incorporating disposable screen printed horseradish peroxidase modified electrodes as the detector element in conjunction with single-use atrazine immuno-membranes. Screen printed carbon electrodes were prepared using carbon ink incorporating horseradish peroxidase. A monoclonal antibody for atrazine was immobilised onto Biodyne C membranes which were, in turn, placed over the electrode surface. The assay was based on competition for available binding sites between free atrazine and an atrazine-glucose oxidase conjugate prepared 'in-house'. In the presence of glucose, H2O2 formed by the conjugate was reduced by enzyme-channelling via the HRP electrode. The HRP was in turn re-reduced by a direct electron transfer mechanism at a potential of +50 mV Vs Ag/AgCl. Any H2O2 formed in the bulk solution by unbound atrazine-GOD conjugate was scavenged by excess catalase thus removing the requirement for a washing step. The performance of the method was compared with a commercial immunoassay kit for atrazine.