Insight into the Covalently Oriented Immobilization of Antibodies on Gold Nanoparticle Probes to Improve Sensitivity in the Colorimetric Detection of Listeria monocytogenes .

In this work, the covalently oriented conjugation of monoclonal Listeria monocytogenes antibody (mAb- Lis ) to amino-terminated oligo(ethylene glycol)-capped gold nanoparticles (NH 2 -TEG-AuNPs) was studied. After NH 2 -TEG-AuNPs were synthesized, the amino-terminated ligands on the particles were then linked to the carboxyl groups in the mAb- Lis through EDC/NHS chemistry. By maintaining the pH of the solution at ∼5, the Fc region of the antibody could preferably attach to the particle surface, providing a specific Fab region that was available for binding with the target pathogen. The resulting mAb-NH-TEG-AuNPs could act as a colorimetric probe for L. monocytogenes based on a particular antigen-antibody interaction, which resulted in a drastic aggregation of particles. This caused the color of the colloidal solution to transition from red-pink to purple or even gray depending on the pathogen concentration. To perform quantitative analysis, the absorbance ratio of A 650 / A 534 was monitored as a function of L. monocytogenes concentration using a spectrophotometer. The detection limit was very low at 11 CFU/mL. Furthermore, a lateral flow strip (LFS) was fabricated as a portable device for onsite utilization. LFS detection could be completed by the naked eye and by a smartphone. The detection limit of LFS was estimated to be 10 3 CFU/mL. Our methods exhibited a substantial improvement in sensitivity compared to that of previous studies on immuno-based nanoparticles. The assay could be completed in 15 min, and no cross reactivity by any pathogen was found. Hence, the designed AuNPs exhibit great promise for use in monitoring L. monocytogenes for food safety and in other applications.