title: Immunodetection of 17β-estradiol in serum at ppt level by microcantilever resonators.
abstract: To date control strategies in detecting anabolic agents for promoting growth of food producing animals are mainly related to screening techniques based on immunochemical and physiochemical methods, whose major limit is represented by relative low analytical sensitivity. As a consequence, consumers are currently exposed to molecules with potential carcinogenic effects such as 17β-estradiol, the most powerful substance with estrogenic effect. Therefore, high analytical sensitivity screening and confirmatory methods are required, coupling easiness of use and efficiency. We here report on the immunodetection of 17β-estradiol in serum by antibody-immobilized microcantilever resonators, an innovative biosensing platform able to quantify an adsorbed target mass (such as cells, nucleic acids, biomolecules, etc.) thanks to a shift in resonance frequency. Our tool based on microcantilever resonator arrays has shown to be capable of discriminating treated and untreated animals, showing the ability of detecting traces of 17β-estradiol in serum at concentrations lower than the present accepted physiological serum concentration threshold value (40 ppt) and commercial ELISA tests (25 ppt). The method exhibits a limit of detection of 20 ppt and a limited cross-reactivity with high concentrations (10 ppb) of similar molecules (testosterone).
authors.affiliation: Politecnico di Torino-LATEMAR Unit, Department of Applied Science and Technology, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Torino, Italy. carlo.ricciardi@polito.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castagna
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frascella
authors.forename: Simone Luigi
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Marasso
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gili
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pitardi
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pezzolato
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bozzetta
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol