Indirect Labeling of Antibodies as a Universal Approach to Increase Sensitivity of Lateral Flow Tests: A Case Study for Mycotoxins Detection

Alexandr E Urusov,Alina V Petrakova,Anatoly V Zherdev,Elena A Zvereva

doi:10.2174/187407070190130113

Alexandr E Urusov, Alina V Petrakova + Show 2 more

https://doi.org/10.2174/187407070190130113

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Abstract

Objective: The study aimed at increasing the sensitivity of immunochromatographic tests for the control of toxic contaminants (on the examples of aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin) in agricultural products. Methods: For reliable immunochromatographic detection of low concentrations of analytes, a replacement of the (specific antibodies – gold nanoparticle) conjugate by a combination of native specific antibodies and anti-species antibodies conjugated with gold nanoparticles was proposed. Different variants of test systems based on the principle of indirect labeling were realized and compared. Results: Immunochromatographic assays with indirect labeling for aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin were implemented experimentally. A reduction in the detection limit by one to two orders of magnitude was demonstrated. Conclusion: The presented results confirm that indirect labeling of specific antibodies overcomes the limitations of the competitive immunochromatographic analysis and can be used to detect analytes of different chemical nature.

Highlights

The proposed concept of indirect labeling in Immunochromatographic Assay (ICA) could be realized via three schemes that differ in the location of reactants used to form the detectable complexes
It was shown that indirect labeling in the analysis of mycotoxins made it possible to increase the sensitivity up to 20 times compared with the traditional scheme
The presented data are in accordance with previously presented comparisons of ICA with direct and indirect labeling where the decrease of the detection limit varied from 5 times to 3 orders of magnitude [15 - 26]

Summary

Introduction

State of the Art with the Development and Use of Lateral Flow Tests. Food safety is an extremely important concern for modern society [1, 2]. New tools for rapid on-site detection of toxic contaminants in food and agricultural products are highly requested for technological control and health protection of consumers [3 - 6]. Lateral flow tests seem to be perspective tools for wide primary screening control due to their rapidity, simplicity and low cost [7 - 9]. The lateral flow tests realize a principle of Immunochromatographic Assay (ICA) with preliminary application of all the reagents to a multi membrane composite (a test strip).

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Conclusion