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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
Experimental Protocol for Detecting Cyanobacteria in Liquid and Solid Samples with an Antibody Microarray Chip
Published on: February 7, 2017
Electrochemical immunoassay using quantum dot/antibody probe for identification of cyanobacterial hepatotoxin
Hye-Weon Yu1, Jinwook Lee, Sungyoun Kim
1Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 261 Cheomdan-gwagiro (Oryong-dong), Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Korea.
Abstract:
The presence of cyanobacterial hepatotoxins such as microcystin-LR poses health threats to humans due to their potential for causing severe physiological effects when contaminated drinking water is ingested. Here, the electrochemical detection of microcystin-LR is explored using a quantum dot/antibody (QD/Ab) probe for nanoparticle-based amplification and direct electrochemical transduction. The immunological recognition of microcystin-LR using the QD/Ab probe was amplified and converted to an electrochemical signal by measuring the cadmium ions released from QD based on square wave stripping voltammetry under optimized electrochemical factors. Whereas a qualitative analysis for microcystin-LR was achieved using the specific peak potential of the anodic voltammogram at -0.6 +/- 0.05 V, concentration of the toxin was quantified based on the charge density of the anodic peak; a dynamic range of 0.227 to 50 microg/L and limit of detection of 0.099 microg/L were obtained with high sensitivity. The extracted microcystin-LR from Microcystis aeruginosa was estimated as 1,944 microg/g of dried weight of the microorganism.
