In this paper, a label-free fluorescent immunoassay for chloramphenicol was established based on a DNA-assisted signal amplification strategy. The poly-adenine mediated spherical nucleic acid was firstly employed as the substrate of antibody to construct the immunonanoprobes. Enzyme-free signal amplification techniques, hybridization chain reaction and strand displacement reaction, were utilized to develop the dual amplification strategy. The output signal was expressed through the use of G-quadruplex to achieve label free fluorescence changes. Under optimized conditions, the detection limit of this method was reduced to 0.0044 ng/L. The method exhibited a high accuracy to the detection of chloramphenicol in milk samples with a recovery rate from 94.5% to 118.1%. However, the limitations of this method probably lied in the overlong detection time and the possible interference from other compounds present in food samples. The developed label-free fluorescent immunoassay could provide an innovative view for the reliable and ultrasensitive detection of chloramphenicol, which is conducive to the food safety.
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