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Pal AK, Hossain MN, Brogna S, Goddard NJ, Gupta R. Leaky waveguide biosensors for label-free measurement of human serum albumin. Analyst 2025. [PMID: 40384237 DOI: 10.1039/d5an00108k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2025]
Abstract
Early diagnosis of diseases such as kidney disease relies on the successful measurement of albumin concentration in urine. We report label-free detection of human serum albumin (HSA) using a leaky waveguide (LW) optical biosensor. The LW reported in this work comprised a few microns-thick mesoporous polyacrylamide hydrogel film deposited on a glass substrate by casting and, for the first time, copolymerized with N-(3-aminopropyl)methacrylamide (APMAA) to provide functional amine groups required to immobilise recognition elements, half-antibody fragments. Furthermore, this is an unprecedented report on the use of a high molecular weight (3700 D) poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylamide in contrast to previously reported low molecular weight bis-acrylamide crosslinkers to increase the porosity of waveguide films. Equally, other parameters such as molar ratio of APMAA to acrylamide and total weight of (monomers and crosslinker) to volume ratio were optimised to obtain hydrogel films with pore size and amine groups required to immobilise half-antibody fragments in hydrogel films. Three different strategies for immobilisation of recognition elements; two based on streptavidin biotin interactions and the third based on half fragments of antibody were studied. The third immobilisation strategy resulted in the most reproducible results and hence was used to measure the equilibrium dissociation constant of HSA and its corresponding half-antibody fragments. Using the LW-based label-free optical biosensor, HSA was successfully detected with a limit of detection of 28 ng mL-1 in buffer and the lowest concentration of HSA measured in this work was 66.5 ng mL-1. This capability of quantitation of HSA by the LW can be built upon to realise a LW biosensor for early detection of diseases including kidney disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anil Kumar Pal
- School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
- Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Md Nazmul Hossain
- School of Biosciences and Birmingham Centre of Genome Biology, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT UK
- Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh
| | - Saverio Brogna
- School of Biosciences and Birmingham Centre of Genome Biology, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT UK
| | | | - Ruchi Gupta
- School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
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Nan X, Wu Y, Xu L, Yang L, Cui Y. A novel glass chip based lateral flow immunoassay of albumin. Biomed Microdevices 2025; 27:15. [PMID: 40138001 DOI: 10.1007/s10544-025-00744-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/12/2025] [Indexed: 03/29/2025]
Abstract
Lateral flow immunoassays typically rely on optical tests conducted on paper strips. However, the 3D matrix of paper embedded with optical nanoparticles often limits detection sensitivity and the ability of detection instruments to capture signals. This study introduces a novel approach using a glass chip-based lateral flow immunoassay, with albumin as a typical biomarker for detection, enabling the presence of the signal on a flat surface. Compared with traditional paper-based immunoassay, glass-based lateral flow immunoassay has achieved a uniform distribution pattern for albumin detection, lowered the limit of detection from 100 ng/mL to 1 ng/mL, and reduced detection time through an improved liquid mobility system. The glass-based method also shortens the detection time by 28.5% to 147.8 s compared to the traditional method. This research presents a new methodology for lateral flow immunoassays that can be applied to a wide range of biomarkers, with potential benefits for various medical and environmental applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanxu Nan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China
- Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
| | - Yiyang Wu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China
- Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
| | - Lingyi Xu
- Renal Division, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China
| | - Li Yang
- Renal Division, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
- Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
- Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
- Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
| | - Yue Cui
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China.
- Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
- Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
- Key Laboratory of Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100034, P.R. China.
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