Highly sensitive fluorescence sensing of zearalenone using a novel aptasensor based on upconverting nanoparticles

Abstract

A facile strategy was successfully developed for the detection of zearalenone (ZEN). In this assay, highly fluorescent upconversion nanoparticles were synthesized and conjugated with the complementary oligonucleotide of ZEN aptamer for use as signal probes. Magnetic nanoparticles immobilized with the ZEN aptamer were assigned as capture probes. The results exhibited that the linear correlation between the decreased luminescence intensity of the signal and the concentration of ZEN was very strong (R=0.9957) in the range of 0.05-100μg/L. In addition, the limit of detection of the proposed method (0.126μg/kg for corn and 0.007μg/L for beer) was significantly lower than the existing methods. Furthermore, the reliability of the competitive immunoassay format was validated by comparing the results determined in real food samples to those obtained from a commercially available method. Overall, the novel aptasensor have showed great potential for rapid and accurate ZEN determination.

Aptamer-Based Biosensor for Detection of Mycotoxins

“…Up to now, there have been few studies into aptasensors for ZEN determination. Nevertheless, in 2017, a fluorescent aptasensor, created through upconversion nanoparticles, was successfully developed for ZEN determination in corn and beer (Wu et al, 2017). The specific aptamer to ZEN was employed as a recognition probe while the complementary strand was adopted as a signal probe.…”

“…However, ultrasensitive approaches are difficult to develop via simple aptasensor recognition. Therefore, a series of novel aptasensors with signal amplification and enhancement have been introduced for mycotoxins (Patolsky et al, 2002;Pavlov et al, 2004;Weizmann et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2007;Deng et al, 2009;Wu et al, 2017), which can meet the requirement of the low maximum contamination level set by many countries and organizations.…”

Optical-Based (Bio) Sensing Systems Using Magnetic Nanoparticles

“…Fluorometric assays have many advantages for biological applications such as higher sensitivity caused by their robust chemical and optical properties. Apart from their intrinsic properties, fluorescent particles have been frequently used for a sensing platform due to their outstanding advantages such as rapid, sensitive and low cost [103][104][105]. However, there are still some challenges such as an inevitable false signal caused by non-specific adsorption in real samples.…”

Rapid and sensitive double‐label based immunochromatographic assay for zearalenone detection in cereals

“…According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, ZEN is considered a group III carcinogen . Thus, many countries have set up maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ZEN in agricultural products, e.g.…”