Immuno-interferometric sensor for the detection of influenza A nucleoprotein

Influenza A virus, both seasonal and pandemic, has the potential to cause rampant devastating disease around the world. The most relied upon methods of viral detection require days, skilled workers, and laboratory settings to complete properly. Here, we report two methods for the detection of the nucleoprotein from inactivated influenza A (IFA-NP), a patented polymer-protein antibody orientation immuno-method, termed ALYNGSA, and a newly fabricated optical label-free Fabry-Perot interferometric immunosensor. The ALYGNSA assay for IFA-NP had a level of detection below 5 microg/mL of inactivated virus sample. The label-free detection through Fabry-Perot interferometry with the ALYGNSA orientation yielded an improved sensitivity to 1 microg/mL over the fluorescence sandwich assay alone. Characterization of the detection surface by fluorescence microscopy and non-contact AFM corroborated interferometry results. The resulting label-free detection method has the prospective for adaptation into a portable multi-chip sensor capable of real-time in situ detection of influenza A virus.