High -Sensitive Detection of Malachite Green Based on Surface-Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence.

This article introduces a novel unlabeled surface-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (SEECL) sensor for malachite green (MG) detection. The SEECL sensor was prepared by modifying the Ru(bpy)32+ doped gold-SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites (Au@SiO2-Ru(bpy)32+) on the gold electrode. Ru(bpy)32+ of nanocomposites can not only emit electrochemiluminescence (ECL) with electrochemical reaction, but also induce the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold core. That is beneficial to enhance the ECL signa of sensor. However, in the existence of MG, the luminescence of sensor would be quenched by the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between MG and Ru(bpy)32+. In this paper, both fluorescence and ECL of the Au@SiO2-Ru(bpy)32+ were investigated for MG detection. And the results show that the SEECL sensor has high sensitive to MG. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the minimum detection concentration could be achieved about 1.0 nM of MG, which fully meets the China national standard detection requirements of veterinary drug residue in seafood.

Cost of Blood and Body Fluid Occupational Exposure Management in Beijing, China.

(1) Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the cost of blood and body fluid (BBF) occupational exposure management in healthcare facilities in Beijing, China. (2) Methods: A survey was conducted from August to October 2018, seeking general information concerning the management of occupational exposure to BBF and the cost of the management process. In total, 216 healthcare facilities were surveyed, using a stratified-selection method. The collected information included BBF management protocols, direct costs such as laboratory testing fees, drug costs and medical service fees, as well as indirect costs, such as wages, lost working time, injury compensation, and psychological counseling time. (3) Results: The cost of post-BBF exposure management varied according to the infection status of the exposure source patients, the immune status of exposed employees, and the location and level of healthcare facilities. The mean values of management cost were determined to be hepatitis B (HBV)-positive source (RMB 5936/USD 897), hepatitis C (HCV)-positive source (RMB 5738/USD 867), Treponema pallidum (TP)-positive source (RMB 4508/USD 681), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive source (RMB 12,709/USD 1920), and unknown sources (RMB 7441/USD 1124). The survey also revealed that some healthcare facilities have insufficient post-exposure management. (4) Conclusions: A better post-exposure management system is needed in Beijing to reduce both infection risk after exposure and costs.

A surface-enhanced electrochemiluminescence sensor based on Au-SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites doped with Ru(bpy)32+ for the ultrasensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen in human serum.

This study reports a surface-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (SEECL) sensor for the ultrasensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in human serum. First, we prepared the Au-SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites doped with Ru(bpy)32+ (Au@SiO2-Ru) as the ECL signal generation and amplification element of the SEECL sensor. Ru(bpy)32+ could emit ECL under the excitation of an electrochemical reaction, and generate the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) electromagnetic field from the gold nanoparticle (AuNP) core. The produced LSPR then effectively enhanced the ECL signals. This sensing strategy was utilized for the detection of PSA, which can be absorbed on the electrode surface by the reaction between PSA and monoclonal antibodies. When polyclonal antibody-modified Au@SiO2-Ru was added, the PSA-double-antibody sandwich structure was formed on the electrode surface and thus, the Au@SiO2-Ru were quantitatively immobilized on the electrode surface. The results show that this kind of SEECL sensor has good selectivity toward PSA. Notably, the minimum detection concentration reached 7 × 10-7 ng mL-1 under the optimum experimental conditions, which is much better than most of the previously reported approaches for the detection of PSA in serum.

Surface-Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence of Ru@SiO2 for Ultrasensitive Detection of Carcinoembryonic Antigen.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is recognized as a disease biomarker to reflect the existence of various cancers and tumors in the human body. Sensitive detection of CEA in body fluid is valuable for clinical diagnosis and treatment assessment of cancers. Herein, we present a new approach for ultrasensitive determination of CEA in human serum based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of Ru(bpy)3(2+). In this surface-enhanced ECL (SEECL) sensing scheme, Ru(bpy)3(2+)-doped SiO2 nanoparticles (Ru@SiO2) act as ECL luminophores, and AuNPs are used as LSPR source to enhance the ECL signal. Two different kinds of aptamers specific to CEA are modified on the surface of Ru@SiO2 and AuNPs, respectively. In the presence of CEA, a multilayer of Ru@SiO2-AuNPs nanoarchitectures would be formed. Our investigation reveals that the ECL signal of Ru@SiO2 can be effectively enhanced by AuNPs. One layer of Ru@SiO2-AuNPs nanoarchitectures would generate about 3-fold ECL enhancement compared with the ECL of the nanoarchitectures without the presence of AuNPs. As much as 30-fold ECL enhancement could be obtained by a multilayer of Ru@SiO2-AuNPs nanoarchitectures. Under the optimal conditions, a detection limit of 1.52 × 10(-6) ng/mL of CEA in human serum was achieved. To the best of our knowledge, CEA assays with such a low LOD have never been reported for an ECL sensor.

Surface enhanced electrochemiluminescence of Ru(bpy)3(2+).

Surface enhanced spectroscopy such as surface enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS) and surface enhanced fluorescence have been investigated extensively in the past two decades. Herein, we present experimental evidence to demonstrate the existence of a new surface enhanced spectroscopy, namely, surface enhanced electrochemiluminescence (SEECL). Our investigation indicates that the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) response of the Ru(bpy)3(2+)-tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) system could be significantly enhanced when the working electrode is modified with gold nanoparticle-SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites (AuNP@SiO2). It is worth noting that comparing with a working electrode modified with pure SiO2 nanoparticles, the electrochemical responses of the two electrodes were quite similar, but the ECL signal of the AuNP@SiO2 modified electrode was ~5 times higher than that of the SiO2 nanoparticles modified electrode. Thus we infer that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the AuNPs could be a major contribution to the ECL enhancement. Our investigations also demonstrate that the ECL enhancement is closely related to the thickness of the SiO2 layer. As much as 10 times ECL enhancement (comparing with the ECL intensity of bare electrode) is observed under the optimal conditions. The possible mechanism of the SEECL phenomenon is also discussed.

Preparative separation of enantiomers based on functional nucleic acids modified gold nanoparticles.

The preparative-scale separation of chiral compounds is vitally important for the pharmaceutical industry and related fields. Herein we report a simple approach for rapid preparative separation of enantiomers using functional nucleic acids modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The separation of DL-tryptophan (DL-Trp) is demonstrated as an example to show the feasibility of the approach. AuNPs modified with enantioselective aptamers were added into a racemic mixture of DL -Trp. The aptamer-specific enantiomer (L-Trp) binds to the AuNPs surface through aptamer-L-Trp interaction. The separation of DL-Trp is then simply accomplished by centrifugation: the precipitate containing L-Trp bounded AuNPs is separated from the solution, while the D-Trp remains in the supernatant. The precipitate is then redispersed in water. The aptamer is denatured under 95 °C and a second centrifugation is then performed, resulting in the separation of AuNPs and L-Trp. The supernatant is finally collected to obtain pure L-Trp in water. The results show that the racemic mixture of DL-Trp is completely separated into D-Trp and L-Trp, respectively, after 5 rounds of repeated addition of fresh aptamer-modified AuNPs to the DL-Trp mixture solution. Additionally, the aptamer-modified AuNPs can be repeatedly used for at least eight times without significant loss of its binding ability because the aptamer can be easily denatured and renatured in relatively mild conditions. The proposed approach could be scaled up and extended to the separation of other enantiomers by the adoption of other enantioselective aptamers.

Discrimination of enantiomers based on LSPR biosensors fabricated with weak enantioselective and nonselective receptors.

Chiral recognition based on enantioselective sensors is superior to conventional chromatographic enantioseparation techniques in terms of simplicity and rapidity. Normally, highly specific enantioselective receptors are used for the fabrication of enantioselective sensors. However, to date there only limited number of highly specific chiral selectors are reported, which greatly confines the development of enantioselective sensors. Herein, we demonstrate the feasibility of using relatively weak chiral selectors to construct an enantioselective biosensor for accurate chiral discrimination of enantiomers. The detection of racemic mixture of (R)- and (S)-1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-1-naphthylamine (TNA) was demonstrated as an example. The sensor was made up of a dual-channel microfluidic chip. One channel of the chip was modified with human serum albumin (HSA), which was reported to be a weak chiral selector for TNA; while the other channel was modified with a monoclonal anti-TNA antibody, which was a non-enantioselective TNA receptor. A portable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) detection system was integrated with the microfluidic chip to accomplish the signal collection. Our investigation revealed that the combination of LSPR responses obtained from the two channels can be used for quantitative discrimination of the (R)- and (S)-TNA. The limit of detection was found to be 150nM for (R)-TNA and 100nM for (S)-TNA. The feasibility of use relatively weak chiral selectors could potentially promote the development of various enantioselective sensors.

Label-free aptamer-based partial filling technique for enantioseparation and determination of DL-tryptophan with micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

In this study, a simple and reproducible method for enantioseparation and determination of dl-tryptophan (DL-Trp) was developed by using a partial filling technique in combination with MEKC. The corresponding L-Trp specific DNA aptamer was used as a chiral selector. Sodium cholate was used to form the chiral micelles and to enhance the enantioseparation of the enantiomers. Effects of aptamer concentration, filling time, buffer composition, and separation voltage on the enantioseparation were evaluated. The Mg(2+) and Na(+) concentration in separation buffer was found to effectively affect the separation efficiency and reproducibility. Under the optimal conditions, D- and L-Trp were completely enantioseparated in less than 9 min. This aptamer-based partial-filling approach has the potential to be extended to the separation of other enantiomers after the replacement of corresponding specific aptamers.