Photothermal enhancement in sensitivity of lateral flow assays for detection of E-coli O157:H7

Publication date: Available online 10 December 2019Source: Colloids and Surfaces B: BiointerfacesAuthor(s): Vahid Shirshahi, Seyed Nasrollah Tabatabaei, Shadie Hatamie, Reza SaberAbstractLateral flow immunoassay (LFA) is a well-known point-of-care technology for the detection of various analytes. However, low sensitivity and lack of quantitative results are some of its critical drawbacks. Here we report a photothermal enhanced lateral flow sensor on the basis of the photothermal properties of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for the detection of E-coli O157:H7 as a model pathogen. The calibration curve of the photothermal method exhibited a linear range from 5 × 10⁵ to 5 × 10⁷ CFU/ml with a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.96 and a regression equation of y = 8.1x-43 for standard bacteria solutions in phosphate buffer. The limit of detection was ∼5 × 10⁵ CFU/ml for standard bacteria solutions, which was a 10-fold enhancement in sensitivity compared to the qualitative results. Specificity experiments showed that the photothermal method can only detect the target bacteria among 6 types of bacteria strains. It was confirmed that the developed technique could be a highly potential method for the rapid detection field because it can provide fast quantitative results with improved sensitivity.Graphical abstract
Source: Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research