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. 2021 Mar 12;19(1):73.
doi: 10.1186/s12951-021-00817-4.

Au-Ag assembled on silica nanoprobes for visual semiquantitative detection of prostate-specific antigen

Hyung-Mo Kim  1 , Jaehi Kim  1 , Jaehyun An  1 , Sungje Bock  1 , Xuan-Hung Pham  1 , Kim-Hung Huynh  1 , Yoonsik Choi  2 , Eunil Hahm  1 , Hobeom Song  3 , Jung-Won Kim  3 , Won-Yeop Rho  4 , Dae Hong Jeong  2 , Ho-Young Lee  5 , Sangchul Lee  6 , Bong-Hyun Jun  7
Affiliations

Au-Ag assembled on silica nanoprobes for visual semiquantitative detection of prostate-specific antigen

Hyung-Mo Kim et al. J Nanobiotechnology. .

Abstract

Background: Blood prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are widely used as diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer. Lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA)-based PSA detection can overcome the limitations associated with other methods. LFIAbased PSA detection in clinical samples enables prognosis and early diagnosis owing to the use of high-performance signal reporters.

Results: Here, a semiquantitative LFIA platform for PSA detection in blood was developed using Au-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) assembled on silica NPs (SiO2@Au-Ag NPs) that served as signal reporters. Synthesized SiO2@Au-Ag NPs exhibited a high absorbance at a wide wavelength range (400-800 nm), with a high scattering on nitrocellulose membrane test strips. In LFIA, the color intensity of the test line on the test strip differed depending on the PSA concentration (0.30-10.00 ng/mL), and bands for the test line on the test strip could be used as a standard. When clinical samples were assessed using this LFIA, a visual test line with particular color intensity observed on the test strip enabled the early diagnosis and prognosis of patients with prostate cancer based on PSA detection. In addition, the relative standard deviation of reproducibility was 1.41%, indicating high reproducibility, and the signal reporter showed good stability for 10 days.

Conclusion: These characteristics of the signal reporter demonstrated the reliability of the LFIA platform for PSA detection, suggesting potential applications in clinical sample analysis.

Keywords: Colloid gold nanoparticle; Colorimetric assay; Lateral-flow immunoassay; Nanoparticle; Prostate cancer; Prostate-specific antigen.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Synthesis of SiO2@Au–Ag NPs. a Synthesis procedure for SiO2@Au–Ag NPs. b Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of (i) SiO2 NPs, (ii) SiO2@Au NPs, and (iii) SiO2@Au–Ag NPs. c EDX mapping showing each component of SiO2@Au–Ag NPs, including (i) Si atoms, (ii) Au atoms, and (iii) Ag atoms. (iv) Overlay image of all elements
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Characterization of SiO2@Au–Ag NPs. a(i) UV–vis extinction spectra of SiO2 NPs, SiO2@Au NPs, and SiO2@Au–Ag NPs. a(ii) Color image of SiO2 NPs, SiO2@Au NPs, and SiO2@Au–Ag NPs in EtOH solution. b(i) Scanned color image of the spots formed on the NC membrane (6 mm) with 3 μL suspension containing A SiO2@Au–Ag NPs, B SiO2@Au NPs, and C colloid AuNPs at different dilutions (1, 1/4, and 1/16). (b(ii)) Signal intensity based on the scattering effect of corresponding-colored spots on the NC membrane. Error bars represent the standard deviations of the means for three batches of analyte measurements
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Schematic illustration of PSA detection using the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) platform with SiO2@Au–Ag NPs as a signal reporter. b Color. c Schematic of early diagnosis and prognosis detection by measuring the signal intensity [i: no recurrence (PSA < 0.30 ng/mL), ii: recurrence (0.30–1.00 ng/mL PSA), iii: no cancer (1.00–3.00 ng/mL PSA), iv: early-stage disease (3.00–10.00 ng/mL PSA), and v: late-stage disease (PSA > 10.00 ng/mL)]. Error bars represent the standard deviations of the means for three batches of analyte measurements
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Application of clinical samples with SiO2@Au–Ag NPs as a signal reporter by comparison with the standard in LFIA. a Color image test line (T) on each test strip (i: PSA standard (S), ii PSA < 0.01 ng/mL (1), iii: 0.80 ng/mL PSA (2), iv: 2.01 ng/mL PSA (3), v: 5.61 ng/mL PSA (4), and vi: 12.84 ng/mL PSA (5). b Measurement of signal intensity using clinical samples with the standard in the LFIA platform. Error bars represent standard deviations of the means for three batches of analyte measurements
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
a Test of reproducibility using SiO2@Au–Ag NPs as a signal reporter with clinical samples (0.53 ng/mL PSA) in LFIA. (i) Color images and (ii) measurement of signal in-tensity. b Test of stability using SiO2@Au–Ag NPs with clinical sample (0.56 ng/mL PSA) in LFIA. (i) Color image and (ii) measurement of signal intensity. Error bars represent standard deviations of the means for three batches of analyte measurements
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