Fluorescent molecularly imprinted nanoparticles-based paper sensor for rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus

A FMIP-based paper sensor was constructed for rapid detection of S. aureus. • The paper sensor can specifically recognize the target bacteria in 5 min. • The paper sensor can accurately measure S. aureus in real samples. A fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer (FMIP)-based paper sensor was constructed for rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). The FMIP nanoparticles were prepared by the boronate affinity imprinting strategy based on the interactions between the cell-surface biomolecules and the functional monomer with phenylboronic acid groups. Then, such FMIP nanoparticles were modified with amino groups for subsequent covalently grafting onto the aldehyde-functionalized paper surface, enabling its specific recognition capability to S. aureus . The paper sensor can specifically recognize the target bacteria in 5 min with an imprinting factor as high as 14.0. Such paper sensor can quantitatively detect S. aureus in the range of 10 2 -10 6  CFU/mL with a detection limit of 77 CFU/mL, and gave spiked recoveries of 87%-116% in real samples. Combining the operational simplicity with rapid detection, this FMIP-based paper sensor can be coupled with a portable fluorimeter to make a point-of-care device for on-site analysis of S. aureus . Download: Download high-res image (280KB) Download: Download full-size image