Highly sensitive colorimetric immunosensor for influenza virus H5N1 based on enzyme-encapsulated liposome

Development of simple but sensitive biosensor for influenza detection is highly important in immediate and effective clinical treatment. In this study, a sensitive colorimetric immunosensor which combines the advantages of high selectivity of immunoassay and simplicity of colorimetric detection has been developed to detect influenza virus H5N1 based on enzyme-encapsulated liposome. Biotin-tagged liposome encapsulated with large amount of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was firstly synthesized. In the presence of H5N1, H5N1 co-bound with the capture antibody and the biotinylated detection antibody to form sandwich immunocomplex . Subsequently, the HRP-encapsulated liposome was introduced to conjugate with the detection antibody through biotin-avidin-biotin linkage. Upon the addition of substrate (mixture of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and H 2 O 2 ), the liposome was directly lysed to release large amount of HRP by TMB. The released HRP catalyzed the H 2 O 2 -mediated oxidation of TMB, resulting in color change of the system, which was observed by naked eyes or UV–vis spectra. The result showed that the absorption intensity enhanced with the increase of H5N1 concentration ranging from 0.1 to 4.0 ng/mL, and the detection limit was calculated to be 0.04 ng/mL. The sensitivity of the proposed biosensor is much higher than that of conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The proposed immunosensor is relatively simple, low-cost, sensitive, and selective without using any sophisticated instruments, therefore it may have a promising prospect for detecting targets in clinical medicine, food safety analysis, and environmental monitoring.