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Aptamer based fluorescence recovery assay for aflatoxin B1 using a quencher system composed of quantum dots and graphene oxide

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Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a secondary fungal metabolite of Aspergillus flavus, was employed as a model mycotoxin to establish an aptamer based assay that exploits the quenching of the fluorescence of CdTe quantum dots (Q-dots) by graphene oxide (GO). A thiolated aptamer specific for AFB1 was linked to the surface of Q-dots via ligand exchange. The fluorescence of the aptamer modified-Q-dots is strongly quenched by GO. If, however, AFB1 is added, fluorescence is restored depending on the quantity of AFB1 added. The system was evaluated both in phosphate buffer solution and in peanut oil. If performed in an aqueous system, the assay possesses good selectivity, a wide dynamic range (from 3.2 nM to 320 μM) and a low limit of detection (1.0 nM). If performed in peanut oil solution, the dynamic range is from 1.6 nM to 160 μM, and the limit of detection is 1.4 nM. In our perception, this is a simple, sensitive and selective method for the determination of AFB1 that also may be extended to the analysis of other mycotoxins.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a secondary fungal metabolite of Aspergillus flavus, was employed as a model mycotoxin to establish an aptamer based assay that exploits the quenching of the fluorescence of CdTe quantum dots by graphene oxide. This is a simple, sensitive and selective method for the determination of AFB1 that also may be extended to the analysis of other mycotoxins.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) under contract No.2013CB127804, National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21205097), Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Technologies of Clean Energies, Start-up grant under SWU111071 from Southwest University, Chongqing International Collaboration Base for Science and Technology (Southwest University) and Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing, China. Z. S. Lu would like to thank the support by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. XDJK2012C005) and Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (No. cstc2012jjA1137).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Zhisong Lu, Xuejuan Chen, Ying Wang, Xinting Zheng & Chang Ming Li

  2. Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing, 400,715, China

    Zhisong Lu, Xuejuan Chen, Ying Wang, Xinting Zheng & Chang Ming Li

  3. Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Zhisong Lu, Xuejuan Chen, Ying Wang, Xinting Zheng & Chang Ming Li

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  1. Zhisong Lu
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Lu, Z., Chen, X., Wang, Y. et al. Aptamer based fluorescence recovery assay for aflatoxin B1 using a quencher system composed of quantum dots and graphene oxide. Microchim Acta 182, 571–578 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-014-1360-0

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