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A bead suspension array for measuring emerging pollutants and anthropogenic markers in wastewater
(2016)
Background: The assessment of water quality demands for high-throughput and multi-target compatible analytical methods. On the one hand, the influence of sewage on natural surface waters must be routinely monitored - according to the European Water Framework Directive. On the other hand, estimation of removal efficiencies of pollutants, such as drug residues, is in the focus of industrial and public wastewater treatment. Immunoassays, such as ELISA, are often applied in this area owing to their cost-efficiency and high-throughput capability. However, it is only possible to measure a single analyte in one measurement. In contrast, array technology is capable for measuring multiple substances in parallel. Here we present a four-plex bead-based flow cytometric assay for measuring three drugs (carbamazepine, an anti-epileptic drug, diclofenac, an antiphlogistic and caffeine, a psychoactive substance) and the bile acid isolithocholic acid, which is proposed to be used as a fecal marker. The drugs can be detected from 1 to 4 µg/L and the bile acid can be detected up to 72 µg/L in wastewater, requiring a highly sensitive detection method.
Methods: We use core-shell particles as the spherical platform, consisting of a polystyrene core and a silica shell. Such beads can easily be encoded with an organic fluorophore in the core and functionalized with amino groups on the silica shell surface for creating binding sites for antibodies: Therefore, the marker substances are bound to the amino groups via NHS chemistry. The hybrid particles were synthesized in house. Polystyrene was chosen as core material because of its low density and high refractive index, both important requirements for the use in suspension arrays. Easy surface modifications using silane chemistry are accessible on the silica shell. For the determination of the pollutants, the beads are incubated with a mixture of the analyte-specific antibodies. The antibodies undergo a competitive reaction to bind the immobilized molecules on the surface of the beads or the free analyte in the solution, respectively. Bound antibodies can then be visualized via fluorophore-labelled secondary antibodies. For read-out a flow cytometer is used to virtually separate the different dye encoded beads and to measure the resulting Signal intensity of the immunoassay. A four-parametric function was used as calibration curve.
Results: In order to obtain highly selective binding of the antibodies, we investigated different types of silica shell surface modifications to overcome unspecific binding, finding that a PEG-modified surface is suitable to support our immunoassay format. Multiplexed small molecule detection can therefore be realized in a simple mix and read procedure without washing steps.
Conclusion: We presented a multiplexing suspension array for the detection of four marker substances in wastewater samples, based on an indirect immunoassay format with polystyrene core-silica shell microbeads. The resulting multiplexing assay is appropriate to detect the marker substances in the low µg/L range. Therefore, wastewater samples can be measured without further preconcentration.
The calibration of fluorescence signals in assays as well as in biological systems is a key requirement. Especially for quantitative studies of living cells, e.g. expression of biomolecules the generation of concentration-proportional analytical statements obtained by the fluorescence intensity plays a significant role. This also applies for cell assays like immunofluorescence assays. Also, the determination of local concentrations of target proteins within cells or within their environment is a major challenge in modern biology.
Proper calibration of the fluorescence imaging systems is the prerequisite to ensure that test results from different instruments and different test environments are comparable. The existing calibration solutions for fluorescence imaging systems, however, mostly depend on simple instrument calibration without reference to absolute physical standards or with insufficient stability for multiple measurements. In order to obtain the necessary quantitative information, it is required to calibrate both instruments and the corresponding assays, ideally with one calibrating system.
We present several new calibration tools for the most commonly used platforms for cytometry, i.e. fluorescence microscope based systems and flow cytometry based systems. They are comprised of ultra-stable fluorophores that are encapsulated in bio- and cell-compatible polymer matrices. Each tool is tailored to the specific requirements of the different read-out platforms. Both re-usable single-color calibration slides for fluorescence microscopes as well as new multi-color calibration beads are presented.
The traceability of the calibration tools to international standards and the wide calibration range of the fluorescence intensity are illustrated. They are thus suitable for calibration of the signal over concentration and quantum yield to that of the targets.
Due to the demand of monitoring the water quality regarding emerging pollutants, such as drug residues, selective, high-throughput and multi-target analytical methods must be established. On the one hand, the influence of sewage on natural surface waters must be routinely monitored. On the other hand, estimation of removal efficiencies of pollutants, such as drug residues, is in the focus of industrial and public wastewater treatment. Immunoassays, such as ELISA, offer the possibility to be highly sensitive and selective due to the high target affine and specific recognition of antibodies to target molecules. Batch-wise processing in microtiter plates allow the necessary high-throughput, but only a single analyte can be determined within one measurement.
To overcome these disadvantages, we developed a four-plex micro-bead based flow cytometric assay, which is adaptable for the microtiter plate format. The modular and self-prepared bead support consists of polystyrene-core-silica-shell particles. While the polystyrene core is used for encoding, by introducing different amounts of fluorescent dyes, the silica-shell creates a solid-support for the immunoassay: The target analytes, three drugs, carbamazepine, diclofenac and caffeine and the f ecal marker isolithocholic acid are covalently coupled to amino-groups on the surface via NHS-chemistry. A competitive immunoassay is subsequently conducted in a simple mix-and-read procedure. Finally, we could use SAFIA to assess the influent of treated and untreated waste water on the Douro river estuary in Portugal. The results of the analysis are comparable to ELISA. However, measurements could be carried out in 25% the time of analysis.
Pollutants of low molecular weight, such as drug residues, are in the focus of water quality assessment: some of them, like carbamazepine are only partially degraded in wastewater treatment plants. Thus, these pollutants can serve as marker substances for elimination efficiencies. Monitoring water quality demands for selective, high-throughput and multi-target analytical methods. Immunoassays, such as ELISA, offer the possibility to be highly sensitive and selective due to the specific recognition by high affinity of target molecules to antibodies (Abs). Batch-wise processing in microtiter plates allows for the necessary high-throughput, however only a single analyte can be determined within one measurement.
To overcome these disadvantages, we developed a four-plex microbead-based flow cytometric assay, which is adaptable for the microtiter plate format. The modular and self-prepared bead support consists of polystyrene-core/silica-shell particles. While, the polystyrene core is used for encoding, by introducing different amounts of fluorescent dyes, the silica shell creates a solid support for the immunoassay: The target analytes, three drugs, carbamazepine, diclofenac and caffeine and the fecal marker isolithocholic acid are coupled covalently to the surface via NHS chemistry to amino groups on the surface.
For determination of the pollutants, a mixture of specific Abs is incubated with the samples, to bind competitively on the “anchor” molecules on the surface of the beads or the analyte in solution. Bound antibodies are then visualized via fluorescent dye-labelled secondary Abs. Flow-cytometry allows for decoding of the beads and signal read-out, without washing the system. In order to decrease non-specific binding, we investigated different types of surface modifications, finding, that a PEG-based surface is suitable to support our immunoassay format. For maximum sensitivity, a design-of-experiment approach was chosen for optimization of the assay parameters. The resulting immunoassay is appropriate to quantify the pollutants in the low μg/L-range.
Due to the demand of monitoring the water quality regarding emerging pollutants, such as drug residues, selective, high-throughput and multi-target analytical methods must be established. On the one hand, the influence of sewage on natural surface waters must be routinely monitored. On the other hand, estimation of removal efficiencies of pollutants, such as drug residues, is in the focus of industrial and public wastewater treatment. Immunoassays, such as ELISA, offer the possibility to be highly sensitive and selective due to the high target affine and specific recognition of antibodies to target molecules. Batch-wise processing in microtiter plates allow the necessary high-throughput, but only a single analyte can be determined within one measurement.
To overcome these disadvantages, we developed a four-plex micro-bead based flow cytometric assay, which is adaptable for the microtiter plate format. The modular and self-prepared bead support consists of polystyrene-core-silica-shell particles. While the polystyrene core is used for encoding, by introducing different amounts of fluorescent dyes, the silica-shell creates a solid-support for the immunoassay: The target analytes, three drugs, carbamazepine, diclofenac and caffeine and the f ecal marker isolithocholic acid are covalently coupled to amino-groups on the surface via NHS-chemistry. A competitive immunoassay is subsequently conducted in a simple mix-and-read procedure. Finally, we could use SAFIA to assess the influent of treated and untreated waste water on the Douro river estuary in Portugal. The results of the analysis are comparable to ELISA. However, measurements could be carried out in 25% the time of analysis.
Clinical, environmental, and food analysis, require efficient and accurate quantitative analysis. Immunoassays take advantage of highly selective and affine binding of an antibody towards an antigen, being easy-to-use and allowing for high sample throughput. However, common immunoassays, e. g. ELISA are not capable of multiplexed analysis, thus limiting possible applications. On the other hand, multi-analyte methods, e.g. liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry requires expensive equipment, trained analysts and the time of analysis usually limits sample throughput. This bottleneck can be overcome combining the suspension array technology, where particles are encoded to allow multiplexed detection, with fluorescence immunoassays to create suspension array fluorescence immunoassays (SAFIA).
Polystyrene core/silica shell microparticles serve as platform for SAFIA. While an encoding dye is introduced in the polystyrene core, the silica shell is used for immobilization: For competitive hapten immunoassays small molecules are immobilized on the surface, serving as a competitive binding site for selective antibodies. For quantification of proteins, antibodies can be immobilized on the surface and the sandwich immunoassay format can be employed. All mentioned immunoassays can be executed wash-free and highly parallelized, allowing up to 500 determinations within three hours. In contrast to ELISA, short incubation times, a wash-free mix-and-read procedure and automated flow-cytometric read-out makes SAFIA applicable for even non-trained personal.
SAFIA showed excellent performance in studies on the origin and fate of drug residues in waste water, which is important to assess clearance rates of wastewater treatment plants. Furthermore, SAFIA can be employed in environmental screenings, detecting pollution of natural river waters by tracking anthropogenic marker substances. It was successfully employed in clinical and food analysis applications, e.g. the quantification of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in breast milk or the quantification of caffeine in beverages. Due to multiplexing capacities, SAFIA can significantly improve biotechnological processes, as in the screening of hybridoma cells for selective and efficient antibody production. For small molecule analytes, limits of detection down to 4 ng/L and for proteins below 25 ng/mL (IgG) were observed, which makes SAFIA applicable to all addressed analytical issues. Moreover, in the analysis of real-world samples, SAFIA shows higher accuracy in contrast to ELISA, indicating higher matrix stability and thus higher robustness in analysis.
Spheriplex multiplexed immunoassays: A practical tool for environmental, food and bioanalysis
(2019)
Clinical, environmental, and food analysis, require efficient and accurate quantitative analysis. Immunoassays take advantage of highly selective and affine binding of an antibody towards an antigen, being easy-to-use and allowing for high sample throughput. However, common immunoassays, e. g. ELISA are not capable of multiplexed analysis, thus limiting possible applications. On the other hand, multi-analyte methods, e.g. liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry requires expensive equipment, trained analysts and the time of analysis usually limits sample throughput. This bottleneck can be overcome combining the suspension array technology, where particles are encoded to allow multiplexed detection, with fluorescence immunoassays to create suspension array fluorescence immunoassays (SAFIA).
Polystyrene core/silica shell microparticles serve as platform for SAFIA. While an encoding dye is introduced in the polystyrene core, the silica shell is used for immobilization: For competitive hapten immunoassays small molecules are immobilized on the surface, serving as a competitive binding site for selective antibodies. For quantification of proteins, antibodies can be immobilized on the surface and the sandwich immunoassay format can be employed. All mentioned immunoassays can be executed wash-free and highly parallelized, allowing up to 500 determinations within three hours. In contrast to ELISA, short incubation times, a wash-free mix-and-read procedure and automated flow-cytometric read-out makes SAFIA applicable for even non-trained personal.
SAFIA showed excellent performance in studies on the origin and fate of drug residues in waste water, which is important to assess clearance rates of wastewater treatment plants. Furthermore, SAFIA can be employed in environmental screenings, detecting pollution of natural river waters by tracking anthropogenic marker substances. It was successfully employed in clinical and food analysis applications, e.g. the quantification of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in breast milk or the quantification of caffeine in beverages. Due to multiplexing capacities, SAFIA can significantly improve biotechnological processes, as in the screening of hybridoma cells for selective and efficient antibody production. For small molecule analytes, limits of detection down to 4 ng/L and for proteins below 25 ng/mL (IgG) were observed, which makes SAFIA applicable to all addressed analytical issues. Moreover, in the analysis of real-world samples, SAFIA shows higher accuracy in contrast to ELISA, indicating higher matrix stability and thus higher robustness in analysis.