Conjugated To Horseradish Peroxidase Research Articles

Development of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay with Tiramine Amplification for the Detection of Potato Virus X

A method is proposed for reducing the detection limit of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of potato virus X, based on the multiple introduction of tyramine into immune complexes and the subsequent detection of an enzyme label. During ELISA, a step by step formation of sandwich complex containing immobilized antibodies – potato virus X – horseradish peroxidase conjugate with antibodies to the virus was carried out. Peroxidase catalyzed the multiple insertion of a tyramine-biotin label into protein molecules, providing signal amplification upon the addition of the streptavidin-polyperoxidase conjugate. The conditions of the assay that ensure a high degree of amplification and a minimum background signal were established. The use of tyramine amplification made it possible to lower the detection limit by more than 30 times (from 100 to 3 ng/ml) when assayed in the buffer and extracts of potato leaves, slightly increasing its duration. Tyramine amplification is based on the use of universal reagents and can be used to reduce the detection limit of ELISA for other antigens.

Concanavalin A- Sandwich-ELISA for the detection of antibodies against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in chicken

Concanavalin A (Con A), a lectin interacts with carbohydrate moieties of viruses and provide stable and sensitive detection when used as a capture agent. Indirect ELISA methods need purified Newcastle disease virus (NDV) or recombinant antigens for adsorption, whereas use of Con A as capture agent will enable the use of non-purified and non-concentrated virus as antigen replacing costly and time-consuming virus purification step. Con A based sandwich ELISA with non-purified NDV whole virus antigen with single serum dilution format has been developed in this study. The optimum concentrations of the capture agent, Con A and non-purified antigen preparations were determined by checker-board titration. Briefly, microplates were coated with predetermined optimum concentration of ConA (0.5 mg/ml; 50µg per well) and incubated for 18h at 4°C. After washing, allantoic fluid with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) LaSota (HA titre, 210) at a constant predetermined dilution (1:1; 50µl) was coated and incubated for 45 min at 37°C, followed by blocking with 2 % bovine serum albumin for 45 min at 37°C. The antigen coated plates were used in the detection of antibody titre against NDV in serum samples at single serum dilution of 1: 500. Then, wells were added with goat anti-chicken IgG horseradish peroxidase conjugate and incubated for 1h at 37°C, followed by addition of TMB substrate and the plates were read spectrophotometrically at 450 nm. ELISA antibody titres were determined by standard serial dilution of positive sera and endpoints were calculated by a subtraction method. By using positive negative threshold curve (PNT), intercept and slope of the standard curve were calculated. Total of 271 random chicken serum samples were analyzed for antibodies against NDV by Haemagglutination inhibition assay (HI), indirect ELISA and compared with the Con A- S- ELISA developed in this study. The Con A-S-ELISA showed a high coefficient of correlation (r=0.85, n=271, P less than 0.01) and an agreement of ê=0.99 with the commercially available Indirect-ELISA. The relative sensitivity and specificity were 98% and 85% respectively in comparison to HI test. Hence, the Con A-S-ELISA is a simple, easy and effective for monitoring serum antibody levels against NDV.

Visualize Embryogenesis and Cell Fate Using Fluorescent Probes with Aggregation-Induced Emission.

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and fluorogen-dextran conjugate are tracers extensively used for injection-based lineage tracing. However, HRP is sensitive to proteolytic digestion, whereas the high-molecular-weight dextran may have antigenicity. Small molecular tracers can overcome these problems, but they usually diffuse from labeled cells, causing inaccurate information. Herein, we developed a small-molecular-weight fluorogen with aggregation-induced emission (AIEgen) for embryonic cell tracing with strong signals against tracer dilution caused by cell division. Once injected into the ancestor cells, the AIEgen can be entrapped in the cells without leakage because of the two hydrophilic and neutral arms. Consequently, it can specifically trace the progenies of the treated ancestor cells. More importantly, the operating concentration of AIEgen can be much higher than that of fluorogens with aggregation-caused quenching, which provides bright signals in daughter cells during embryonic cell tracing, thus overcoming the problem of fast signal degradation typically encountered with the use of traditional cell tracers.

Three-dimensional origami paper-based device for portable immunoassay applications.

In this study, we demonstrate a three-dimensional surface-modified origami-paper-based analytical device (3D-soPAD) for immunoassay applications. The platform enables the sequential steps of immunoassays to be easily performed using a folded, sliding paper design featuring multiple pre-stored reagents, allowing us to take advantage of the vertical diffusion of the analyte through the different paper layers. The cellulose substrate is composed of carboxymethyl cellulose modified with N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide, which provide covalent bonding sites for bio-recognition molecules. After the optimization of the operation parameters, we determined the detection limit of the 3D-soPAD for human immunoglobulin G (HIgG) which can be as low as 0.01 ng mL-1, with a total turnaround time of 7 min. In order to study the long-term storage of the platform, anti-HIgG horseradish peroxidase (aHIgG-HRP) conjugates were stored by freeze-drying in sugar matrices composed of 10% sucrose/10% trehalose (w/w%) on the paper device, retaining 80% of their activity after 75 days of storage at 4 °C. To evaluate the performance of the paper device using real samples, we demonstrated the detection of protein A (a biomarker for Staphylococcus aureus infection) in highly viscous human synovial fluid. These results show that the proposed 3D-soPAD platform can provide sensitive, high-throughput, and on-site prognosis of infection in resource-limited settings.

Розробка імуноензимного діагностикуму для виявлення гліфосат-резистентної генетично модифікованої сої

The goal of research was development of competitive ELISA kit for detection of genetically modified plants resistant to glyphosate. As the source for gene isolation we have used leaves of GM soybean RoundUp Ready, line 40-3-2 (Monsanto). Using polymerase chain reaction the gene encoding the enzyme 5-enolpiruvilshykimat-3-phosphate synthase (CP4 EPSPS) was isolated, which provides resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. Isolated gene has been cloned into plasmid vector pET24(a), creating genetic construct pET-CP4EPSPS. E.coli (BL 21(DE3)) has been transformed by genetic construct and over expressed after induction by 0.5 mM IPTG. Recombinant enzyme CP4 EPSPS with molecular weight 45 kD was purified as inclusion bodies and used as antigen for 96-well polystyrene plates immobilization. Monoclonal antibodies CP4 EPSPS mAb3 (Artron BioResearch Inc., Canada) was used for synthesis of horseradish peroxidase conjugate and receiving diagnostic reagent. We have shown that in the competitive ELISA we can detect at least 0.1% of GM plants resistant to glyphosate, on the example of soybean (line RR 40-3-2), moreover we can also detect rapeseed (line GT73) and sugar beet (line H7-1).

Ficus sycomorus latex: An efficient alternative Egyptian source for horseradish peroxidase in labeling with antibodies for immunodiagnostic kits.

Aim:In view of various peroxidase applications, the searching for new sources of unique peroxidase properties is highly desirable. The present study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the peroxidase of locally grown sycamore latex (POL) for conjugation with antibodies and to study the conjugate optimal conditions, storage stability, and affinity toward different substrates as compared with commercial horseradish peroxidase (HRP).Materials and Methods:Anti-mouse antibodies were prepared in rabbits and purified by protein A sepharose affinity column chromatography. The POL and HRP conjugates were prepared by one-step glutaraldehyde coupling method. The reactivity of the prepared conjugates was examined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The optimal enzymatic conditions, storage stability, and affinity toward substrates were also determined for both the conjugates.Results:The POL showed higher percent recovery (98%) than HRP (78%) over the initial activity after conjugation process. The POL and HRP conjugates showed ELISA titers of 1:120 and 1:80, respectively, demonstrating high binding affinity of POL-conjugate. The POL-conjugate showed high thermal stability up to 70°C compared with HRP-conjugate up to 40°C. After conjugation, POL had wide pH stability (5.0-8.0) compared with HPR (4.5-6.0). Both of the prepared conjugates had a high affinity toward the substrates used in immunoassays with lower Km values. The POL-conjugate showed high storage stability for its enzymatic activity and ELISA titer compared with HRP-conjugate after 1 year at −20°C.Conclusion:The POL of Ficus sycomorus latex is an efficient source for labeling antibodies and could be utilized in immunodiagnostic kits.

ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY KIT FOR THE DETERMINATION OF DEOXYNIVALENOL

A reagent kit EIA-DEOXYNIVALENOL for the determination of mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in feeds and foods by a direct competitive enzyme immunoassay using microtitration plate has been developed and tested. The basic components of the kit are polyclonal antibodies to DON, obtained as a result of immunization of rabbits with a conjugate of DON with bovine serum albumin and a conjugate of horseradish peroxidase with DON. The evaluated parameters of the kit and metrological characteristics of the technique of measurements correspond to the modern level of immunoassay development and provide the determination of DON content of agricultural products in a range of 0.2 to 6.0 mg/kg with proper accuracy and precision. The limit of quantitative determination of DON in grain and cereal foods does not exceed 0.2 mg/kg.

Development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for early pregnancy diagnosis in cattle

The prerequisite for enhancing reproductive efficacy and successful calving is an early and accurate diagnosis of pregnancy. A highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) utilizing the second antibody coating technique and the horseradish peroxidase conjugate as a label for the determination of Interferon-stimulated protein, 15 kDa (ISG15) in dairy cows was developed. To validate a neutrophil lysate based ELISA for early pregnancy diagnosis, blood samples from healthy multiparous Karan Fries (KF) cows were collected on day 0 (day of AI), 10, 14, 16 and 21 post artificial insemination. The pregnancy and non-pregnancy in cows were confirmed by plasma progesterone assay, ultrasonography and per rectal palpation. The detection range of the assay was 0.312 to 25 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 0.13 ng/ml. The inter-assay and intra-assay coefficient of variation was 12.1% and 10.1%, respectively. The parallelism for measured and expected concentrations had an r2 value of 0.90 and 0.93, respectively. It was observed that ISG15 concentration was greater (P < 0.01) in pregnant as compared to non-pregnant cows, the greatest being 9.36 ± 0.50 ng/ml on day 16 in pregnant cows. With the use of immunocytochemistry, there was a positive staining for ISG15 with greater staining in the neutrophils of day 16 pregnant cows. The study reveals that ISG15 protein in a neutrophil lysate can be utilized as a biomarker for early pregnancy diagnosis in cows.

Soluble expression of horseradish peroxidase in Escherichia coli and its facile activation

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is widely used as a marker enzyme in immunoassays and biosensors, and can possibly be used in industries such as waste water treatments or fine chemical synthesis. Cost-effective production of active HRP is thus very important in the related fields. Also, engineering of HRP for its better performance in the designated application is expected to make the enzyme even more important in several areas of research and industry. One of obstacles to this end and to the large scale production of the enzyme has been its facile expression in a bacterial host. Here we show that HRP could be overexpressed as a soluble form by fusing the enzyme with Escherichia coli phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK). After simple incubation with calcium ion, hemin, and oxidized glutathione, PGK-HRP could be fully activated showing a higher molar specific activity than plant-derived HRP. Our established procedure did not use tedious and inefficient refolding steps that have been used to activate HRP produced as inclusion bodies and thus is superior in its overall yield (>72mg purified HRP conjugate per L culture) to existing methods. By co-expressing PGK-HRP with ferrochelatase in a special host that permitted the formation of disulfide bonds in the cytoplasm, the activation steps could be simplified even though the resulting specific activity was low.

Preparation and characterization of alkaline phosphatase, horseradish peroxidase, and glucose oxidase conjugates with carboxylated carbon nano-onions

ABSTRACTCarbon nanomaterials have emerged as suitable supports for enzyme immobilization and stabilization due to their inherently large surface area, high electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and mechanical strength. In this paper, carbon nano-onions (CNOs) were used as supports to immobilize alkaline phosphatase, horseradish peroxidase, and glucose oxidase. CNOs were first functionalized by oxidation to generate carboxylic groups on the surface followed by the covalent linking of using a soluble carbodiimide as coupling agent. The CNO–enzyme conjugates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed a specific enzyme load of ∼0.5 mg of protein per milligram of CNO. The immobilized enzymes showed enhanced storage stability without altering the optimum pH and temperatures. These properties make the prepared nanobiocatalyst of potential interest in biosensing and other biotechnological applications.

Isotype-specific agglutination-PCR (ISAP): A sensitive and multiplex method for measuring allergen-specific IgE

Isotype-specific agglutination-PCR (ISAP): A sensitive and multiplex method for measuring allergen-specific IgE

Microplate chemiluminescent assay for HBV DNA detection using 3-(10′-phenothiazinyl)propionic acid/N-morpholinopyridine pair as enhancer of HRP-catalyzed chemiluminescence

A sensitive sandwich assay for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA detection based on use of commercial CL-ELISA microplates was developed. To reveal the target the covalent conjugate of reporter oligonucleotide and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was synthesized. An employment of enhanced chemiluminescence reaction, where 3-(10′-phenothiazinyl)propionic acid/N-morpholinopyridine pair was used as enhancer of HRP-catalyzed chemiluminescence, permitted to measure the enzyme activity of the conjugate with high sensitivity. Under the favorable conditions the limit of detection and a linear range of the assay were 3 pM and 0.07–2.0 nM, respectively. The coefficient of variation (CV) for determination of HBV DNA concentrations within the working range was lower than 4%. The obtained results demonstrated that the developed assay had high sensitivity and precision.

Study on molecularly imprinted nanoparticle modified microplates for pseudo-ELISA assays

Nanosized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (nanoMIPs) are designed artificial nanoreceptors with a predetermined selectivity and specificity for a given analyte, lately proposed as a replacement to antibodies in immunoassays. The nanoMIP-plate preparation based on nanoparticle adsorption was studied with the aim to rationally identify and discuss the critical points in the nanoMIP-assay development, in an example based on the iron homeostasis biomarker hepcidin and hepcidin-specific nanoMIPs (Kd = 9nM). Plates were prepared by deposition and drying of nanoMIP (0.5–4µg/well), or by nanoMIPs co-depositions (proteins, PVA). Rehydration (> 1h) of dry nanoMIP-plates showed the reconstitution of the imprinted binding sites. NanoMIP-plate mechanical stresses (several washings; pipetting) caused nanoMIP desorption (~90%). After 10 washes the quantity of nanoMIP was 0.2µg/well, the imprinted binding sites were ~270 fmol/well, their accessibility the 92%. Co-depositions resulted in higher amount of adsorbed nanomaterial (1.2µg/well), but low accessibility of the imprinted binding sites (2–47%).Tested in a competitive sequential assay, using as competitor horseradish peroxidase conjugate to hepcidin, the nanoMIP-plate permitted to determine hepcidin in serum samples, yet with a narrow dynamic range of response (0.9–10nM). Critical points in the assay were: the instability of the nanoMIP adsorption, which lead to the progressive loss of binding sites/well, and the affinity of the nanoMIP for the analyte (Kd = 9nM), which corresponds to kinetics dissociation constants on the time-scale of the washing lengths (minutes), thus compatible with the release of the bound hepcidin during the washings. The found limits set the conditions to develop a successful nanoMIP-assay: (i) stable microplate derivatization; (ii) maximized number of imprinted binding sites/well; (iii) nanoMIP/analyte equilibrium not perturbed on the time scale of the minutes (i.e. Kd ~ pM).

Somatotopy in the Medullary Dorsal Horn As a Basis for Orofacial Reflex Behavior.

The somatotopy of the trigeminocervical complex of the rat was defined as a basis for describing circuitry for reflex behaviors directed through the facial motor nucleus. Thus, transganglionic transport of horseradish peroxidase conjugates applied to individual nerves/peripheral receptive fields showed that nerves innervating oropharyngeal structures projected most rostrally, followed by nerves innervating snout, periocular, and then periauricular receptive fields most caudally. Nerves innervating mucosae or glabrous receptive fields terminated densely in laminae I, II, and V of the trigeminocervical complex, while those innervating hairy skin terminated in laminae I–V. Projections to lamina II exhibited the most focused somatotopy when individual cases were compared. Retrograde transport of FluoroGold (FG) deposited into the facial motor nucleus resulted in labeled neurons almost solely in lamina V of the trigeminocervical complex. The distribution of these labeled neurons paralleled the somatotopy of primary afferent fibers, e.g., those labeled after FG injections into a functional group of motoneurons innervating lip musculature were found most rostrally while those labeled after injections into motoneurons innervating snout, periocular and preauricular muscles, respectively, were found at progressively more caudal levels. Anterograde transport of injections of biotinylated dextran amine into lamina V at different rostrocaudal levels of the trigeminocervical complex confirmed the notion that the somatotopy of orofacial sensory fields parallels the musculotopy of facial motor neurons. These data suggest that neurons in lamina V are important interneurons in a simple orofacial reflex circuit consisting of a sensory neuron, interneuron and motor neuron. Moreover, the somatotopy of primary afferent fibers from the head and neck confirms the “onion skin hypothesis” and suggests rostral cervical dermatomes blend seamlessly with “cranial dermatomes.” The transition area between subnucleus interpolaris and subnucleus caudalis is addressed while the paratrigeminal nucleus is discussed as an interface between the somatic and visceral nervous systems.

CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF Lb-PROTEASE FROM cDNA CLONE OF FOOT-AND- MOUTH DISEASE VIRUS

Foot-and –Mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a positive sense RNA virus and the genome codes for single polyprotein. The FMDV L protein is located at the N terminus of the polyprotein and is the first gene product released from the nascent polyprotein. The leader L protease which is involved in pathogenesis has two known functions: (i) auto-catalytic removal from the N terminus of the viral polyprotein and (ii) cleavage of the p220 subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4F complex, which helps to shut off host protein synthesis. To explore the role of L protease in FMDV pathogenesis we generated synthetic FMDV genome lacking the L gene. The gene was amplified from an infectious cDNA clone of serotype Asia1. Primers corresponding to L protease were designed based on the sequence available in the data base. An amplified DNA of 546bp was purified and cloned into pET28 cloning vector. The sequence analysis revealed the presence of single Open Reading Frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 173 amino acid residues. The sequence alignment using BLAST search in NCBI gene Bank showed 91% homology with FMDV strain A isolate IND17/77 L protease gene. The recombinant plasmids pETLb was transferred into BL21 (DE3) pLysS cells and the IPTG induced expressed protein of 25 KDa was purified by nickel affinity column as per the manufacturer’s protocol (Sigma, USA). The specificity of the expressed protein in was confirmed by western blotting using convalescent cattle serum/ rabbit anti-bovine horse radish peroxidase conjugate and O-Dianisidine Dihydrochloride substrate.

Microplate magnetic chemiluminescence immunoassay for detecting urinary survivin in bladder cancer.

Survivin is a tumor marker for bladder cancer; however the role of urinary survivin levels has not been fully elucidated due to the limitations of current detection methods. Based on two survivin-specific monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) already confirmed through enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, the present study aimed to establish a microplate magnetic chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) for the detection of urinary survivin levels and evaluate its application for the diagnosis of patients with bladder cancer. Horseradish peroxidase and biotin conjugates were used to label two different anti-survivin McAbs, respectively. The labeled antibodies combined with survivin to form a sandwiched immune complex. The streptavidin magnetic particles (MPs) served as the solid phase and the separator. The relevant parameters involved in the immunoassay, including the immunoassay reagents used and the physicochemical parameters were optimized. Then, urine samples from 130 patients with bladder cancer and 113 healthy controls were detected, and analyzed using the established method. The method was linear to 1,000 ng/ml survivin with a detection limit of 0.83 ng/ml. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were <8, and <11%, respectively. The concentration of diluted survivin and the dilution ratios gave a linear correlation of 0.9989. The results demonstrated that the urinary survivin levels in patients with bladder cancer were significantly higher (P<0.001) compared with that in healthy controls. At a survivin concentration of 2.0884 ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity were 86.9 and 61.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the urinary survivin levels were positively correlated with metastatic stage, histological stage and recurrence (P<0.01). In conclusion, the present study preliminarily proposed a microplate magnetic CLIA for survivin detection and further evaluated the value of urinary survivin as a diagnostic marker for bladder cancer.

Development of screen-printed electrode based immunosensor for the detection of HER2 antigen in human serum samples

In this study, an immunosensor based on screen-printed electrode (SPE) has been developed for the detection of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 (HER2) antigen. The SPEs were fabricated and a sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format was followed for the construction of the immunosensor. The capture antibody (mouse anti-human ErbB2) was coated onto the electrode surface without any prior surface modification, followed by the addition of recombinant human HER2 antigen. Biotinylated goat anti-human ErbB2 was used as the detection antibody which was linked to streptavidin conjugated horseradish peroxidase (HRP). 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) was used as the substrate. The redox reaction was measured using cyclic voltammetry at scan rate of 50mV/s for the quantification of the antigen in solution. The biotin-avidin chemistry enabled the accurate detection of the antigen in nanogram levels. The amperometric signal obtained increased linearly with increase in the HER2 concentration and two-fold linear range was obtained between 5ng/ml–20ng/ml and 20–200ng/ml respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of this immunosensor were found to be 4ng/ml and 5ng/ml respectively. The detection of HER2 in the serum samples of invasive and non-invasive breast cancer patients has been realized.

Hapten-Specific Single-Cell Selection of Hybridoma Clones by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting for the Generation of Monoclonal Antibodies.

The conventional hybridoma screening and subcloning process is generally considered to be one of the most critical steps in hapten-specific antibody production. It is time-consuming, monoclonality is not guaranteed, and the number of clones that can be screened is limited. Our approach employs a novel hapten-specific labeling technique of hybridoma cells. This allows for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and single-cell deposition and thereby eliminates the above-mentioned problems. A two-step staining approach is used to detect antigen specificity and antibody expression: in order to detect antigen specificity, hybridoma cells are incubated with a hapten-horseradish peroxidase conjugate (hapten-HRP), which is subsequently incubated with a fluorophore-labeled polyclonal anti-peroxidase antibody (anti-HRP-Alexa Fluor 488). To characterize the expression of membrane-bound immunoglobulin G (IgG), a fluorophore-labeled anti-mouse IgG antibody (anti-IgG-Alexa Fluor 647) is used. Hundreds of labeled hybridoma cells producing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for a hapten were rapidly isolated and deposited from a fusion mixture as single-cell clones via FACS. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measurements of the supernatants of the sorted hybridoma clones revealed that all hapten-specific hybridoma clones secrete antibodies against the target. There are significant improvements using this high-throughput technique for the generation of mAbs including increased yield of antibody-producing hybridoma clones, ensured monoclonality of sorted cells, and reduced development times.

ELISA for Quantitative Determination of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen.

Several studies have reported a good correlation between levels of serum hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) before and after antiviral therapy. As a result, the quantification of HBsAg levels has attracted much attention in recent years as an important approach to evaluate viral activity. In this study, mAbs against HBsAg were generated and 9 mAbs (H17, H30, H31, H67, H73, H97, H101, H118, and H128) were investigated for optimization of HBsAg quantitation ELISA. Determination of the best combinations of mAbs for sandwich ELISA identified H17 and H31 mAbs as the ideal capture and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugate mAbs, respectively. A standard curve for the current assay system exhibited linearity up to 40 ng/ml of HBsAg while a detection limit of approximately 1 ng/ml of HBsAg was also estimated, which was comparable to that of the other commercial ELISA kits. The ELISA system established in this study is particularly differentiated from other commercial kits in using mAbs for both capture and HRP conjugate, which provides a solution to inconsistency of quality and ethical issues in polyclonal antibodies production using laboratory animals.

Dual-Signal Amplified Electrochemiluminescent Immunosensor for Detecting Ractopamine Using Quantum Dots and Gold Nanoparticles-Labeled Horseradish Peroxidase

A dual-signal amplification strategy for electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was designed based on L-cysteine capped CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) conjugated horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for highly sensitive detection of ractopamine (RAC). The electrochemical detection was based on the HRP catalyzed o-phenylenediamine (OPD) to consume the self-produced H2O2, which has been extensively used as a co-reactant of QDs. The enzymatic reaction rate was proportional to the amount of HRP bound to the electrode. In the presence of RAC standard solution, the immobilized RAC coating antigen competed with RAC solution for the Ab-AuNPs-HRP complexes. With the increase of the RAC concentration, the amount of immobilized HRP decreased, which led to the increase of ECL intensity. Under optimized conditions, ECL intensity changed linearly with the logarithm of RAC concentration in the range of 0.005–500 ng mL−1 with the detection limit of 0.0017 ng mL−1 (S/N = 3). The ECL immunosensor possesses high sensitivity, satisfied reproducibility and selectivity, and may provide a feasible route for practical application of RAC detection.