Natural insect-derived Nanoparticle: An ultra-bright and instantaneous Labeled signal tag for green and efficient Immunochromatographic assay of chloramphenicol

Abstract

With the increasing international attention to environmental protection, higher requirements are put forward for green detection technology with simple preparation, sustainable material application, and efficient result output. Herein, we firstly proposed the natural insect-derived nanoparticle with ultra-bright and instantaneous labeling capability as a signal tag for stable and efficient immunochromatographic assay (ICA) to meet above challenges. The FDA-approved insect-extracted carmine (E120) nanoparticles (CANPs) were specifically regulated by pH changes to enhance dispersity and produce an ultra-bright color as signal tags. Notably, owing to the rich functional groups in CANPs, the CANPs-probe formed rapidly and efficiently (less than 1 min) to improve the reproducibility and precision, getting rid of the high cost and resources (9-fold reduction of mAbs). As proof of concept, the CANPs-based ICA strategy realized ultra-bright red bands on the test trip, without background within 15 min for chloramphenicol (CAP) detection, attained more than 457-fold improvements in LOD over classic AuNP-ICA and a 5-fold reduction in cost in each detection. Its excellent application potential has been verified in different natural waters with recoveries ranging from 91.93-126.45 %. This study reveals a promising strategy for green detection technology for antibiotics in natural water.