Simultaneous multiplexed stripping voltammetric monitoring of marine toxins in seafood based on distinguishable metal nanocluster-labeled molecular tags

Toward Sensitive and Reliable Immunoassays of Marine Biotoxins: From Rational Design to Food Analysis

Marine biotoxins are metabolites produced by algae that can accumulate in shellfish or fish and enter organisms through the food chain, posing a serious threat to biological health. Therefore, accurate and rapid detection is an urgent requirement for food safety. Although various detection methods, including the mouse bioassay, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and cell detection methods, and protein phosphatase inhibition assays have been developed in the past decades, the current detection methods cannot fully meet these demands. Among these methods, the outstanding immunoassay virtues of high sensitivity, reliability, and low cost are highly advantageous for marine biotoxin detection in complex samples. In this work, we review the recent 5-year progress in marine biotoxin immunodetection technologies such as optical immunoassays, electrochemical immunoassays, and piezoelectric immunoassays. With the assistance of immunoassays, the detection of food-related marine biotoxins can be implemented for ensuring public health and preventing food poisoning. In addition, the immunodetection technique platforms including lateral flow chips and microfluidic chips are also discussed. We carefully investigate the advantages and disadvantages for each immunoassay, which are compared to demonstrate the guidance for selecting appropriate immunoassays and platforms for the detection of marine biotoxins. It is expected that this review will provide insights for the further development of immunoassays and promote the rapid progress and successful translation of advanced immunoassays with food safety detection.

Progress on Electrochemical Biomimetic Nanosensors for the Detection and Monitoring of Mycotoxins and Pesticides

Monitoring agricultural toxins such as mycotoxins is crucial for a healthy society. High concentrations of these toxins lead to the cause of several chronic diseases; therefore, developing analytical systems for detecting/monitoring agricultural toxins is essential. These toxins are found in crops such as vegetables, fruits, food, and beverage products. Currently, screening of these toxins is mostly performed with sophisticated instrumentation such as chromatography and spectroscopy techniques. However, these techniques are very expensive and require extensive maintenance, and their availability is limited to metro cities only. Alternatively, electrochemical biomimetic sensing methodologies have progressed hugely during the last decade due to their unique advantages like point-of-care sensing, miniaturized instrumentations, and mobile/personalized monitoring systems. Specifically, affinity-based sensing strategies including immunosensors, aptasensors, and molecular imprinted polymers offer tremendous sensitivity, selectivity, and stability to the sensing system. The current review discusses the principal mechanisms and the recent developments in affinity-based sensing methodologies for the detection and continuous monitoring of mycotoxins and pesticides. The core discussion has mainly focused on the fabrication protocols, advantages, and disadvantages of affinity-based sensing systems and different exploited electrochemical transduction techniques.

Recent Advances in Recognition Receptors for Electrochemical Biosensing of Mycotoxins-A Review

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi in cereals and foodstuffs during the stages of cultivation and storage. Electrochemical biosensing has emerged as a rapid, efficient, and economical approach for the detection and quantification of mycotoxins in different sample media. An electrochemical biosensor consists of two main units, a recognition receptor and a signal transducer. Natural or artificial antibodies, aptamers, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP), peptides, and DNAzymes have been extensively employed as selective recognition receptors for the electrochemical biosensing of mycotoxins. This article affords a detailed discussion of the recent advances and future prospects of various types of recognition receptors exploited in the electrochemical biosensing of mycotoxins.

Orange-red emitting copper nanoclusters for endogenous GSH, temperature sensing, and cellular imaging

Glutathione (GSH) plays an important role in the biochemical defense system of the human body. Designing an exceptional probe to detect trace amounts of GSH is of great significance for studying the oxidative stress reaction and related diseases. In this study, a selective and sensitive orange-red emitting copper nanocluster(CuNC)-based fluorescent probe for the detection of GSH was devised in the matrix of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using hydrazine hydrate (HYD) as the reducing agent and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) as the stabilizer. A peaceable without external assistance method (room temperature reaction) was employed to synthesize fluorescent CuNCs with orange-red luminescence emission at 606 nm upon excitation at 377 nm. The fluorescence intensity of CuNCs was found to decrease or even quench by the addition of GSH, which indicated the stronger binding ability of -SH in GSH with the CuNCs losing the protection of PVP. Based on this principle, the present sensor system exhibits a good linear response towards GSH ranging from 0.10 to 40 μM, and the limit of detection was found to be 12.4 nM. Moreover, due to the excellent selectivity and high sensitivity of the GSH sensor, it might act as a potential probe for the detection of GSH in the lysosomal environment of tumor cells. Thus, this strategy has a promising application potential for the early identification and prevention of cancer with low toxicity and good stability.

Advances in nanomaterial-based electrochemical biosensors for the detection of microbial toxins, pathogenic bacteria in food matrices

There is a growing demand to protect food products against the hazard of microbes and their toxins. To satisfy such goals, it is important to develop highly sensitive, reliable, sophisticated, rapid, and cost-effective sensing techniques such as electrochemical sensors/biosensors. Although diverse forms of nanomaterials (NMs)-based electrochemical sensing methods have been introduced in markets, the reliability of commercial products is yet insufficient to meet the practical goal. In this review, we focused on: 1) sources of pathogenic microbes and their toxins; 2) possible routes of their entrainment in food, and 3) current development of NM-based biosensors to realize real-time detection of the target analytes. At last, future prospects and challenges in this research field are discussed.

Magnetic Beads in Marine Toxin Detection: A Review

Due to the expanding occurrence of marine toxins, and their potential impact on human health, there is an increased need for tools for their rapid and efficient detection. We give an overview of the use of magnetic beads (MBs) for the detection of marine toxins in shellfish and fish samples, with an emphasis on their incorporation into electrochemical biosensors. The use of MBs as supports for the immobilization of toxins or antibodies, as signal amplifiers as well as for target pre-concentration, is reviewed. In addition, the exploitation of MBs in Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment (SELEX) for the selection of aptamers is presented. These MB-based strategies have led to the development of sensitive, simple, reliable and robust analytical systems for the detection of toxins in natural samples, with applicability in seafood safety and human health protection.

A specific electrochemiluminescence sensor for selective and ultra-sensitive mercury(ii) detection based on dithiothreitol functionalized copper nanocluster/carbon nitride nanocomposites

A novel electrochemiluminescence sensor based on the combination of copper nanoclusters and carbon nitride nanosheets was fabricated for detecting Hg²⁺.

Progress on nanostructured electrochemical sensors and their recognition elements for detection of mycotoxins: A review

Nanomaterial-embedded sensors have been developed and applied to monitor various targets. Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that can exert carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, immunotoxic, and estrogenic effects on humans and animals. Consequently, the need for the proper regulation on foodstuff and feed materials has been recognized from times long past. This review provides an overview of recent developments in electrochemical sensors and biosensors employed for the detection of mycotoxins. Basic aspects of the toxicity of mycotoxins and the implications of their detection are comprehensively discussed. Furthermore, the development of different molecular recognition elements and nanomaterials required for the detection of mycotoxins (such as portable biosensing systems for point-of-care analysis) is described. The current capabilities, limitations, and future challenges in mycotoxin detection and analysis are also addressed.

New advances in electrochemical biosensors for the detection of toxins: Nanomaterials, magnetic beads and microfluidics systems. A review

The use of nanotechnology in bioanalytical devices has special advantages in the detection of toxins of interest in food safety and environmental applications. The low levels to be detected and the small size of toxins justify the increasing number of publications dealing with electrochemical biosensors, due to their high sensitivity and design versatility. The incorporation of nanomaterials in their development has been exploited to further increase their sensitivity, providing simple and fast devices, with multiplexed capabilities. This paper gives an overview of the electrochemical biosensors that have incorporated carbon and metal nanomaterials in their configurations for the detection of toxins. Biosensing systems based on magnetic beads or integrated into microfluidics systems have also been considered because of their contribution to the development of compact analytical devices. The roles of these materials, the methods used for their incorporation in the biosensor configurations as well as the advantages they provide to the analyses are summarised.

Papain-templated Cu nanoclusters: assaying and exhibiting dramatic antibacterial activity cooperating with H₂O₂

Herein, papain-functionalized Cu nanoclusters (CuNCs@Papain) were originally synthesized in aqueous solution together with a quantum yield of 14.3%, and showed obviously red fluorescence at 620 nm. Meanwhile, their corresponding fluorescence mechanism was fully elucidated by fluorescence spectroscopy, HR-TEM, FTIR spectroscopy, and XPS. Subsequently, the as-prepared CuNCs were employed as probes for detecting H2O2. Using CuNCs as probes, H2O2 was determined in the range from 1 μM to 50 μM based on a linear decrease of fluorescence intensity as well as a detection limit of 0.2 μM with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. More significantly, it has been proved that CuNCs could convert H2O2 to ˙OH, which exhibited dramatic antibacterial activity. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to validate their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive/negative bacteria and actual wound infection, suggesting their potential for serving as one type of promising antibacterial material.

Novel colorimetric immunoassay for ultrasensitive monitoring of brevetoxin B based on enzyme-controlled chemical conversion of sulfite to sulfate

A simple colorimetric immunoassay for quantitative monitoring of brevetoxin B on a functionalized magnetic bead by using glucose oxidase (GOx)/antibrevetoxin antibody-labeled gold nanoparticle as the signal transduction tag was developed. The assay was carried out on the basis of GOx-controlled sulfite-to-sulfate chemical conversion with a silver(I)-3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine [Ag(I)-TMB] system. Initially, the sulfite was used as an inhibitor of Ag(I) to hinder the color development of TMB due to the formation of insoluble silver sulfite. Accompanying H2O2 generation with GOx-catalyzed glucose, the sulfite was converted into the sulfate, thus resulting in the colorless-to-blue change. Under the optimal conditions, the absorbance decreased with increasing brevetoxin B from 0.5 to 200 ng/kg with a detection limit of 0.1 ng/kg (ppt). The precision and specificity were acceptable. Furthermore, the methodology gave results matching well with the referenced brevetoxin ELISA kit for monitoring of spiked Musculista senhousia samples.

One-step synthesis and applications of fluorescent Cu nanoclusters stabilized by L-cysteine in aqueous solution

Herein, an innovative and simple strategy for synthesizing high fluorescent Cu nanoclusters was successfully established while L-cysteine played a role as the stabilizer. Meaningfully, the current Cu nanoclusters together with a quantum yield of 14.3% were prepared in aqueous solution, indicating their extensive applications. Subsequently, the possible fluorescence mechanism was elucidated by fluorescence, UV-vis, HR-TEM, FTIR, XPS, and MS. Additionally, the CuNCs were employed for assaying Hg(2+) on the basis of the interactions between Hg(2+) and L-cysteine; thus facilitating the quenching of their fluorescence. The proposed analytical strategy permitted detections of Hg(2+) in a linear range of 1.0×10(-7) mol L(-1)×10(-3) mol L(-1), with a detection limit of 2.4×10(-8) mol L(-1) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Significantly, this CuNCs described here were further applied for coding and fluorescent staining, suggesting may broaden avenues toward diverse applications.

Ultrasensitive protein detection: a case for microfluidic magnetic bead-based assays

We review the use of magnetic micro- and nanoparticles ('magnetic beads') in microfluidic systems for ultrasensitive protein detection. During recent years magnetic beads have been used frequently in immunoassays, either as mobile substrates on which the target antigen is captured, as detection labels, or simultaneously as substrates and labels. The major part of the reviewed work has as application the detection of antibodies or disease biomarkers in serum or of biotoxins from food samples. Several of the most sensitive assays allow protein detection down to fg mL(-1) concentrations. We benchmark the performance of these microfluidic magnetic bead-based assays with the most promising earlier work and with alternative solutions.

One-step aqueous synthesis of fluorescent copper nanoclusters by direct metal reduction

A one-step aqueous synthesis of highly fluorescent water-soluble copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) is here described, based on direct reduction of the metal precursor with NaBH4 in the presence of bidentate ligands (made of lipoic acid anchoring groups, appended with a poly(ethylene glycol) short chain). A complete optical and structural characterization was carried out: the optical emission was centred at 416 nm, with a luminescence quantum yield in water of 3.6% (the highest one reported so far in water for this kind of nanocluster). The structural characterization reveals a homogeneous size distribution (of 2.5 nm diameter) with spherical shape. The CuNCs obtained offer long-term stability (the luminescence emission remained unaltered after more than two months) under a broad range of chemical conditions (e.g., stored at pH 3-12 or even in a high ionic strength medium such as 1 M NaCl) and high photostability, keeping their fluorescence emission intact after more than 2 h of daylight and UV-light exposition. All those advantageous features warrant synthesized CuNCs being promising fluorescent nanoprobes for further developments including (bio)applications.

Innovative detection methods for aquatic algal toxins and their presence in the food chain

Detection of aquatic algal toxins has become critical for the protection of human health. During the last 5 years, techniques such as optical, electrochemical, and piezoelectric biosensors or fluorescent-microsphere-based assays have been developed for the detection of aquatic algal toxins, in addition to optimization of existing techniques, to achieve higher sensitivities, specificity, and speed or multidetection. New toxins have also been incorporated in the array of analytical and biological methods. The impact of the former innovation on this field is highlighted by recent changes in legal regulations, with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry becoming the official reference method for marine lipophilic toxins and replacing the mouse bioassay in many countries. This review summarizes the large international effort to provide routine testing laboratories with fast, sensitive, high-throughput, multitoxin, validated methods for the screening of seafood, algae, and water samples.

Displacement-type quartz crystal microbalance immunosensing platform for ultrasensitive monitoring of small molecular toxins

A novel displacement-type quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) immunosensing strategy, based on glucose and its analogue dextran for concanavalin A (ConA) binding sites, was designed for ultrasensitive monitoring of small molecular biotoxins (brevetoxin B, PbTx-2, used as a model) with signal amplification on a graphene-functionalized sensing interface. To construct such a QCM immunosensing platform, phenoxy-functionalized dextran (DexP) was initially assembled onto the surface of graphene-coated QCM probe via the π-stacking interaction, and ConA-labeled monoclonal mouse anti-PbTx-2 capture antibody was then immobilized on the DexP-modified probe by dextran-ConA binding. Gold nanoparticle heavily functionalized with glucoamylase and bovine serum albumin-PbTx-2 (PbTx-2-BSA) conjugate was employed as the trace tag. A competitive-type immunoassay format was adopted for the online monitoring of PbTx-2 between anti-PbTx-2 antibody immobilized on the QCM probe and PbTx-2-BSA labeled on the gold nanoparticle. Accompanying the gold nanoparticle, the carried glucoamylase could hydrolyze amylopectin in glucose. The produced glucose competed with dextran for ConA and displaced the ConA-streptavidin-anti-PbTx-2 complex from the QCM probe, resulting in the frequency change. Under optimal conditions, the frequency of the QCM immunosensor was indirectly proportional to the concentration of target PbTx-2 in the sample and exhibited a dynamic range from 1.0 pg·mL(-1) to 10 ng·mL(-1) with a detection limit (LOD) of 0.6 pg·mL(-1) at the 3Sblank level. Intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were below 7.5% and 9.5%, respectively. In addition, the methodology was evaluated for analysis of PbTx-2 in 15 spiked seafood samples and showed good accordance between results obtained by the displacement-type QCM immunosensor and a commercialized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.

Additional molecular biological amplification strategy for enhanced sensitivity of monitoring low-abundance protein with dual nanotags

A new signal-on immunoassay protocol for sensitive electronic detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was developed by coupling with metal sulfide nanolabels and a silver nanocluster (AgNC)-based rolling circle amplification (RCA) strategy. Initially, a sandwiched immunocomplex was formed on a primary antibody-coated microplate using a PbS nanoparticle-labeled polyclonal anti-AFP antibody (PbS-pAb2) as the detection antibody, and then the carried PbS-pAb2 was dissolved by acid to release a large number of lead ions, which could induce the cleavage of lead-specific DNAzyme immobilized on the electrode. The residual single-stranded DNA on the electrode could be used as the primer to produce numerous repeated oligonucleotide sequences via the RCA reaction for the hybridization with many AgNC-labeled detection probes, resulting in the amplification of the electronic signal due to the unique properties of silver nanoclusters. Under optimal conditions, the developed immunoassay exhibited high sensitivity for the detection of AFP with a dynamic range of 0.001-200 ng mL(-1) and a detection limit (LOD) of 0.8 pg mL(-1). Intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation were below 8.0% and 10%, respectively. Importantly, the methodology was evaluated by analyzing 12 clinical serum specimens, and no significant differences were encountered in comparison with the conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.

Multiplexed electrochemical immunoassay of biomarkers using metal sulfide quantum dot nanolabels and trifunctionalized magnetic beads

A novel multiplexed stripping voltammetric immunoassay protocol was designed for the simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers (CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 used as models) using PAMAM dendrimer-metal sulfide quantum dot (QD) nanolabels as distinguishable signal tags and trifunctionalized magnetic beads as an immunosensing probe. The probe was prepared by means of co-immobilization of primary monoclonal anti-CA 125, anti-CA 15-3 and anti-CA 19-9 antibodies on a single magnetic bead. The PAMAM dendrimer-metal sulfide QD nanolabels containing CdS, ZnS and PbS were synthesized by using in situ synthesis method, which were utilized for the labeling of polyclonal rabbit anti-CA 125, anti-CA 15-3 and anti-CA 19-9 detection antibodies, respectively. A sandwich-type immunoassay format was adopted for the simultaneous determination of target biomarkers in a low-binding microtiter plate. The subsequent anodic stripping voltammetric analysis of cadmium, zinc, and lead components released by acid from the corresponding QD nanolabels was conducted at an in situ prepared mercury film electrode based on the difference of peak potentials. Experimental results indicated that the multiplexed immunoassay enabled the simultaneous detection of three cancer biomarkers in a single run with wide dynamic ranges of 0.01-50 U mL(-1) and detection limits (LODs) of 0.005 U mL(-1). Intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) were less than 7.2% and 10.4%, respectively. No significant differences at the 0.05 significance level were encountered in the analysis of 10 clinical serum specimens between the multiplexed immunoassay and a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).