Synthesis of gold-antibody nanocomposite and AFP immunoassay
The construction of successful biosensors is often hampered by the difficulty of immobilising biomolecules onto the desired surface in an orderly fashion. As a support medium, nanoparticles display a particularly large surface-to-volume ratio and their physical properties can be adjusted to match requirements.
Researchers led by Zhihui Dai from the Nanjing Normal University, China, have used a liquid-liquid interface technique to immobilise Ab1 antibodies onto gold nanoparticles, characterising the material using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).
Detection of abnormal levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) can indicate the presence of cancerous cells. In this work, a sandwich immunoassay was used to test the sensitivity of the Au-Ab1 nanocomposite towards AFP, demonstrating good selectivity, stability and reproducibility of the sensor. In clinical samples, the gold-based sensor performed well against the current enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) method of testing.
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Gold–antibody nanocomposite thin film fabricated by a liquid–liquid interface technique and its application for the sensitive immunoassay of alpha-fetoprotein
Kun Wang , Tianxiang Wei , Wenwen Tu , Min Han and Zhihui Dai
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 1909-1914
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY26541B
