Invader Assisted Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Colorimetric Detection of Disease Biomarkers Using Oligonucleotide Probe-Modified Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

We successfully developed an invader assisted ELISA assay (iaELISA) for sensitive detection of disease biomarkers. The method includes three key steps as follows; biotinylated detection antibody was at first used to capture targeted antigen by sandwich ELISA. The biotinylated oligonucleotide was then attached to detection antibody via streptavidin. Finally, the cascade invader reactions were employed to amplify the biotinylated oligonucleotide specific to the antigen so that detection of the antigen was transformed into signal amplification of the antigen-specific DNA. To achieve colorimetric detection, oligonucleotide probe and modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were coupled with the invader assay. Utilization of the hairpin probes in the invader reaction brought about free AuNPs, resulting in the positive read-out (red color). On the other hand, aggregation of the AuNPs occurred when the hairpin probes were not utilized in the reaction. This method was successfully used to detect as low as 2.4 x 10(-11) g/mL of HBsAg by both naked eye and spectrophotometer. This sensitivity was about 100 times higher than that of conventional ELISA method. The method was also used to assay 16 serum specimens from HBV-infected patients and 8 serum specimens from HBV-negative donors and results were in good agreement with those obtained from the conventional ELISA. As the invader assay is sensitive to one base sequence, a good specificity was also obtained by detecting other antigens like hepatitis A virus (HAV) and BSA. The method has therefore much potential for ultrasensitive and cost-effective detection of targeted proteins that have clinical importance.