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Indirect Labeling of Antibodies as a Universal Approach to Increase Sensitivity of Lateral Flow Tests: A Case Study for Mycotoxins Detection
Abstract
Objective:
The study aimed at increasing the sensitivity of immunochromatographic tests for the control of toxic contaminants (on the examples of aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin) in agricultural products.
Methods:
For reliable immunochromatographic detection of low concentrations of analytes, a replacement of the (specific antibodies – gold nanoparticle) conjugate by a combination of native specific antibodies and anti-species antibodies conjugated with gold nanoparticles was proposed. Different variants of test systems based on the principle of indirect labeling were realized and compared.
Results:
Immunochromatographic assays with indirect labeling for aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin were implemented experimentally. A reduction in the detection limit by one to two orders of magnitude was demonstrated.
Conclusion:
The presented results confirm that indirect labeling of specific antibodies overcomes the limitations of the competitive immunochromatographic analysis and can be used to detect analytes of different chemical nature.