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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
Human In-Vivo Bioassay for the Tissue-Specific Measurement of Nociceptive and Inflammatory Mediators
Published on: December 1, 2008
Immunosensors for quantifying cyclooxygenase 2 pain biomarkers
Naumih M Noah1, Samuel K Mwilu, Omowunmi A Sadik
1Center for Advanced Sensors & Environmental Systems (CASE), Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, P. O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA.
Background:
Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme in pain biomarkers, inflammation and cancer cell proliferation. Thus biosensors that can quantify pain mediators based on biochemical mechanism are imperative.
Methods:
Biomolecular recognition and affinity of antigenic COX-2 with the antibody were investigated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and ultra-sensitive portable capillary (UPAC) fluorescence sensors. Polyclonal goat anti-COX-2 (human) antibodies were covalently immobilized on gold SPR surface and direct recognition for the COX-2 antigen assessed. The UPAC sensor utilized an indirect sandwich design involving covalently attached goat anti-COX-2 as the capture antibody and rabbit anti-COX-2 (human) antibody as the secondary antibody.
Results:
UPAC fluorescence signals were directly proportional to COX-2 at a linear range of 7.46×10⁻⁴-7.46×10¹ ng/ml with detection limit of 1.02×10⁻⁴ ng/ml. With SPR a linear range was 3.64×10⁻⁴-3.64×10² ng/ml was recorded and a detection limit of 1.35×10⁻⁴ ng/ml. Validation was achieved in simulated blood samples with percent recoveries of 81.39% and 87.23% for SPR and UPAC respectively.
Conclusion:
The developed sensors have the potential to provide objective characterization of pain biomarkers for clinical diagnoses.
