Sensitive chemiluminescence immunoassay for staphylococcal enterotoxin C1 based on the use of dye-encapsulated mesoporous silica nanoparticles

A chemiluminescent immunoassay for the staphylococcal enterotoxin C1 (SEC1) based on the use of dye-encapsulated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (m-SiNPs) as a label is described. The dyes are retained in the m-SiNPs via strong hydrophobic interactions. The assay comprises the following steps: (a) Microplates coated with antibody against SEC1 are filled with sample upon which the SEC antigen will be bound to the surface; (b) following a washing step, secondary antibody linked to m-SiNPs (that were covalently labeled with rhodamine 6G and fluorescein) were added to form the sandwich complex; (c) after another washing step, bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate, H 2 O 2 and imidazole are added to generate chemiluminescence whose intensity is proportional to the number of m-SiNPs and thus to the number of antigen (SEC) molecules. It is found that the use of functionalized m-SiNPs strongly amplifies the signal. Enterotoxin SEC1 can be detected by this method in the 0.025 to 2 ng⋅mL‾ 1 concentration range, the detection limit is 19 pg⋅mL‾ 1 (at 3σ), and the relative standard deviation (for 11 parallel measurements at a 1 ng⋅mL‾ 1 level) is 4.6 %. The use of an automated chemiluminescence analyzer further improves detection. A chemiluminescent immunoassay for the staphylococcal enterotoxin C1 (SEC1) is developed based on dye-encapsulated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (m-SiNPs) and bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO)-H 2 O 2 -dyes chemiluminescent system. The advantage of this method is low detection limit to 19 pg⋅mL‾ 1 .