Magnetic bead-based enzyme-chromogenic substrate system for ultrasensitive colorimetric immunoassay accompanying cascade reaction for enzymatic formation of squaric acid-iron(III) chelate.
This work reports on a simple and feasible colorimetric immunoassay with signal amplification for sensitive determination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA, used as a model) at an ultralow concentration by using a new enzyme-chromogenic substrate system. We discovered that glucose oxidase (GOx), the enzyme broadly used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), has the ability to stimulate in situ formation of squaric acid (SQA)-iron(III) chelate. GOx-catalyzed oxidization of glucose leads to the formation of gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The latter can catalytically oxidize iron(II) to iron(III), which can rapidly (<1 min) coordinate with the SQA. Formation of the iron-squarate complex causes the color of the solution to change from bluish purple to bluish red accompanying the increasing absorbance with the increment of iron(III) concentration. On the basis of the SQA-iron(III) system, a new immunoassay protocol with GOx-labeled anti-PSA detection antibody can be designed for the detection of target PSA on capture antibody-functionalized magnetic immunosensing probe, monitored by recording the color or absorbance (λ = 468 nm) of the generated SQA-iron(III) chelate. The absorbance intensity shows to be dependent on the concentration of target PSA. A linear dependence between the absorbance and target PSA concentration is obtained under optimal conditions in the range from 1.0 pg mL(-1) to 30 ng mL(-1) with a detection limit (LOD) of 0.5 pg mL(-1) (0.5 ppt) estimated at the 3Sblank level. The sensitivity displays to be 3-5 orders of magnitude better than those of most commercialized human PSA ELISA kits. In addition, the developed colorimetric immunoassay was validated by assaying 12 human serum samples, receiving in good accordance with those obtained by the commercialized PSA ELISA kit. Importantly, the SQA-based immunosensing system can be further extended for the detection of other low-abundance proteins or biomarkers by controlling the target antibody.
Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection for Food Safety (Fujian Province & Ministry of Education of China), Department of Chemistry, Fuzhou University , Fuzhou 350108, P.R. China.
Wenqiang
W
Lai
Dianping
D
Tang
Junyang
J
Zhuang
Guonan
G
Chen
Huanghao
H
Yang
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods; D003503:Cyclobutanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005949:Glucose Oxidase / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D008280:Magnetics; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds; D003503:Cyclobutanes; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents; D005949:Glucose Oxidase; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen; C030042:squaric acid