Immunoassays on thiol-ene synthetic paper generate a superior fluorescence signal

• Published in: Biosensors & bioelectronics Vol. 163; p. 112279
• Main Authors: Guo, Weijin, Vilaplana, Lluisa, Hansson, Jonas, Marco, M.-Pilar, van der Wijngaart, Wouter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Biosensing Techniques; Biosensor; Biotechnology; Bioteknologi; Chemistry; Electrical Engineering; Elektro- och systemteknik; Enrofloxacin; Fluorescence; Glass slides; Immunoassay; Kemi; Microarray; Nitrocellulose; Off-stoichiometric thiol-ene; Porous substrate; Reproducibility of Results; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Biosensor; Glass slides; Fluorescence; Off-stoichiometric thiol-ene; Microarray; Porous substrate; Enrofloxacin; Nitrocellulose
• ISSN: 0956-5663; 1873-4235; 1873-4235
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112279

The fluorescence-based detection of biological complexes on solid substrates is widely used in microarrays and lateral flow tests. Here, we investigate thiol-ene micropillar scaffold sheets (“synthetic paper”) as the solid substrate in such assays. Compared to state-of-the-art glass and nitrocellulose substrates, assays on synthetic paper provide a stronger fluorescence signal, similar or better reproducibility, lower limit of detection (LOD), and the possibility of working with lower immunoreagent concentrations. Using synthetic paper, we detected the antibiotic enrofloxacin in whole milk with a LOD of 1.64 nM, which is on par or better than the values obtained with other common tests, and much lower than the maximum level allowed by European Union regulations. The significance of these results lays in that they indicate that synthetically-derived microstructured substrate materials have the potential to improve the performance of diagnostic assays. •“Synthetic paper” thiol-ene micropillar scaffolds form a superior substrate for fluorescence bioassays.•Synthetic paper has lower autofluorescence and results in a lower limit of detection than glass and nitrocellulose.•Using synthetic paper-based microarrays, we detected enrofloxacin in whole milk at levels below EU safety regulations.