Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay for avian influenza subtype H5 using nanocomposite

We report a novel electrochemical immunosensor that can sensitively detect avian influenza virus H5 subtype (AIV H5) captured by graphene oxide-H5-polychonal antibodies-bovine serum albumin (GO-PAb-BSA) nanocomposite. The graphene oxide (GO) carried H5-polychonal antibody (PAb) were used as signal amplification materials. Upon signal amplification, the immunosensor showed a 256-fold increase in detection sensitivity compared to the immunosensor without GO-PAb-BSA. We designed a PAb labeling GO strategy and signal amplification procedure that allow ultrasensitive and selective detection of AIV H5. The established method responded to 2(-15) HA unit/50 µL H5, with a linear calibration range from 2(-15) to 2(-8) HA unit/50 µL. In summary, we demonstrated that the immunosenser has a high specificity and sensitivity for AIV H5, and the established assay could be potentially applied in the rapid detection of other pathogenic microorganisms.