Protein array for assist diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

A nanogold probe immunoassay for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) combining the concepts of the one-step dual monoclonal antibody "sandwich" principle, the low density protein array, and silver enhancement on the gold particle is described. Two main substrates, namely the capture antibody (IgG1) coated supporting nitrocellulose membrane and the colloidal gold-labeled detection antibody (cAu-IgG2), were prepared before the detection. The detection procedure involved two steps, i.e. immunoreaction and silver amplification. The assay needs only small amounts of serum samples of patients. The detection results could be easily imaged with a simple flatbed scanner or even the naked eye. The whole detection procedure of the assay could be fulfilled within 40 min (much faster than the routine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that takes usually at least 3 h for a turnaround test). The detection limit of cTnI was found to be 1 ng/ml. The detecting results of cTnI in serum samples were similar to those detected by ELISA.