A Study on Micropipetting Detection Technology of Automatic Enzyme Immunoassay Analyzer

Thermal segment microwell plate control for automated liquid handling setups

Automated high-throughput liquid handling operations in biolabs necessitate miniaturised and automatised equipment for effective space utilisation and system integration. This paper presents a thermal segment microwell plate control unit designed for enhanced microwell-based experimentation in liquid handling setups. The development of this device stems from the need to move towards geometry standardization and system integration of automated lab equipment. It incorporates features based on Smart Sensor and Sensor 4.0 concepts. An enzymatic activity assay is implemented with the developed device on a liquid handling station, allowing fast characterisation via a high-throughput approach. The device outperforms other comparable devices in certain metrics based on automated liquid handling requirements and addresses the needs of future biolabs in automation, especially in high-throughput screening.

Use of capillary-mediated vitrification to produce thermostable, single-use antibody conjugates as immunoassay reagents

The performance of enzyme-linked immunoassays is directly dependent on the storage, handling, and long-term stability of the critical reagents used in the assay. Currently, antibody reagents are routinely stored as concentrated, multi-use, frozen aliquots. This practice results in material waste, adds complexity to laboratory workflows, and can compromise reagents via cross-contamination and freeze-thaw damage. While refrigeration or freezing can slow down many degradation processes, the freezing process itself can have damaging effects, including introduction of aggregation and microheterogeneity. To address these challenges, we evaluated the application of capillary-mediated vitrification (CMV) as a tool for storing antibody reagents in a thermostable, single-use format. CMV is a novel biopreservation method that enables vitrification of biological materials without freezing. Using an anti-human IgG-alkaline phosphatase conjugate as a model system, we prepared CMV-stabilized aliquots which were stored in a single-use format at temperatures ranging from 25 to 55 °C for up to 3 months. Each stabilized aliquot contained enough antibody to perform a single assay run. We evaluated the assay performance and functional stability of the CMV-stabilized reagents using a plate-based ELISA. Assays run using the CMV stabilized reagents exhibited good linearity and precision that was comparable to results obtained with a frozen control. Throughout the stability study, the maximum signal and EC50s observed for ELISAs run using CMV-stabilized reagents were generally consistent with those obtained using a frozen control. These results indicate that the CMV process has the potential to improve both reagent stability and long-term assay performance, while also reducing reagent waste and simplifying assay workflows.

Preparation of monoclonal antibody and development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of ceftiofur in animal-derived foods

Ceftiofur (CEF) residues in animal-derived foods are of great concern to farmers, regulatory agencies and consumers. In this study, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) method was established to quickly monitor CEF residues in edible animal tissues using an easy sample preparation procedure. A monoclonal antibody, 4D5, against CEF has been produced at first, which had IC₅₀ values for CEF, ceftriaxone, cefquinome, cefotaxime and desfuroylceftiofur of 0.78 μg/L, 0.73 μg/L, 13.6 μg/L, 8.99 μg/L and 8.89 μg/L, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) in artificially contaminated animal-derived foods were 0.12-0.19 μg/L and 0.20-0.30 μg/L. The recovery rates were in the range of 89.7-109.0%. The CVs were less than 6.7%. A good correlation (R= 0.9994) between the ic-ELISA and UPLC-MS/MS showed the reliability of the developed ic-ELISA. The ic-ELISA produces a sensitive, accurate and low-cost tool for the screening of residues of CEF in animal-derived foods.