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Gold decorated polystyrene particles for lateral flow immunodetection of Escherichia coli O157:H7

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Abstract

Conventional lateral flow immunoassays for pathogen detection usually make use of gold nanoparticles to impart the color necessary for a readout. Unfortunately, these immunoassays require an extra-long time enrichment process before the detection. The synthesis of gold-decorated polystyrene particles (Au-PS), and their incorporation in a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) with improved sensitivity for detection of the model pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) were described in this article. The synthesis of the Au-PS particles occurred through the citrate reduction method. Then the particles underwent surface modification through coating with branched polyethylenimine, followed by grafting of the anti-E. coli O157:H7 antibody. The effect of Au-PS particle size and of the surface coverage on the detection limit of the assay was investigated. The Au-PS particles with 0.46 μm PS and 10% Au surface coverage achieved 500 CFU·mL−1 limit of detection (LOD) for E. coli O157:H7 in apple juice, ground beef, and spiked buffer solutions. Furthermore, these particles achieved 100 CFU·mL−1 LOD when the secondary a signal amplification reaction via gold reduction method was used. While the antibody-antigen interaction has a well-known role in detection, a precise optimization of the Au-PS particles used in LFIA assays can significantly affect performance. In our perception, Au nanoparticles coverage on sub-micron sized polystyrene particles was the critical factor that allowed reaching the reported low concentration of E. coli O157:H7 in real food samples.

Microstructure of gold-decorated polystyrene (Au-PS) particles and a schematic illustration for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by a lateral flow immunoassay strip containing the same.

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, under Project No. 8072-42000-077. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Seon-Ah Jin, Li-Kai Lin & Lia A. Stanciu

  2. Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Yoojung Heo & Amanda J. Deering

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    George T. -C. Chiu

  4. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    George T. -C. Chiu & Jan P. Allebach

  5. Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Lia A. Stanciu

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  1. Seon-Ah Jin
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Jin, SA., Heo, Y., Lin, LK. et al. Gold decorated polystyrene particles for lateral flow immunodetection of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Microchim Acta 184, 4879–4886 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2524-5

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