Cation exchange in ZnSe nanocrystals for signal amplification in bioassays

ZnSe nanocrystals (NCs), possessing low native luminescence but high biocompatibility, were employed as labeling tags in bioassays. They were able to amplify each target recognition event thousands of times through a cation-exchange reaction (CXAmp) that released over 3000 encapsulated Zn(2+) from one single NC. The freed cations in turn triggered strong fluorescence from the Zn-responsive dyes. The present study demonstrated that CXAmp with ZnSe delivered superior detection performance in comparison to the conventional labeling methods. The overall fluorescence intensity of CXAmp using 5 nM ZnSe NCs was 30 times higher than that from 5 nM core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). The limit of detection (LOD) obtained with ZnSe-based CXAmp was 10-fold lower than with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeling, and the detection sensitivity, represented by the slope of the signal-versus-concentration curve, was 20-fold higher. When applied to detect immunoglobulin E (IgE) in a sandwich format, a LOD of 1 ng/mL was achieved. The highly sensitive CXAmp also allowed detection of the total IgE content in dilute human serum, in which the abundant matrix proteins exhibited less interference and more accurate quantification could be performed. Besides high signal amplification efficiency and good biocompatibility, CXAmp with ZnSe could be easily adapted to common laboratory settings and act as a universal labeling system for reliable detection of low-abundance targets.