Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 656/123, 612 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
Mikrochim Acta. 2024 Oct 9;191(11):656. doi: 10.1007/s00604-024-06743-0.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a promising technique for the readout of immunochemical assays utilizing indirect detection of labels (Tag-LIBS), typically based on nanoparticles. We have previously demonstrated that Tag-LIBS immunoassay employing yttrium-based photon-upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) can reach sensitivity similar to commonly used enzyme and fluorescence immunoassays. In this study, we report on further increasing the sensitivity of UCNP-based Tag-LIBS immunoassay by employing magnetic microbeads (MBs) as the solid phase in the determination of cancer biomarker prostate-specific antigen. Due to the possibility of analyte preconcentration, MBs enabled achieving a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.0 pg·mL, representing two orders of magnitude improvement compared with equivalent microtiter plate-based assay (LOD of 460 pg·mL). In addition, utilizing MBs opens up the possibility of an internal standardization of the LIBS readout by employing iron spectral lines, which improves the assay robustness by compensating for LIBS signal fluctuations and bead-bound immunocomplexes lost throughout the washing steps. Finally, the practical applicability of the technique was confirmed by the successful analysis of clinical samples, showing a strong correlation with the standard electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Overall, MB-based Tag-LIBS was confirmed as a promising immunoassay approach, combining fast readout, multiplexing possibilities, and high sensitivity approaching upconversion luminescence scanning while avoiding the requirement of luminescence properties of labels.
激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)是一种很有前途的技术,可用于间接检测标记物(Tag-LIBS)的免疫化学分析,通常基于纳米粒子。我们之前已经证明,采用基于钇的光子上转换纳米粒子(UCNP)的 Tag-LIBS 免疫分析可以达到与常用的酶和荧光免疫分析相当的灵敏度。在本研究中,我们报告了进一步提高基于 UCNP 的 Tag-LIBS 免疫分析的灵敏度的方法,该方法采用磁性微球(MBs)作为固相,用于测定癌症生物标志物前列腺特异性抗原。由于可以进行分析物预浓缩,MBs 使得检测限(LOD)达到 4.0 pg·mL,与等效的微量滴定板测定法相比提高了两个数量级(LOD 为 460 pg·mL)。此外,通过使用铁谱线对 LIBS 读数进行内部标准化,MBs 也为该技术提供了可能,这可以通过补偿 LIBS 信号波动和在整个洗涤步骤中丢失的结合免疫复合物来提高分析的稳健性。最后,通过成功分析临床样本证实了该技术的实际适用性,其与标准的电化学发光免疫分析显示出很强的相关性。总的来说,基于 MB 的 Tag-LIBS 被证实是一种很有前途的免疫分析方法,它结合了快速读数、多重检测的可能性和接近上转换发光扫描的高灵敏度,同时避免了对标签发光性能的要求。