A magnetic beads-based portable flow cytometry immunosensor for in-situ detection of marine biotoxin

Okadaic acid (OA), a representative diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxin, mainly produced by toxigenic dinoflagellates, has significant hazard to public health. Traditional methods for detection of OA can not give the consideration to the need of rapid, high sensitive, quantitative and in-situ detection at the same time. Herein, a new effective detection method of OA was developed based on fluorescence immunosensor and flow cytometry (FCM). In this assay, Streptavidin-coated magnetic beads (MBs) were used as the supporter to immobilize the biotinylated OA. Modified MBs competed with the free OA in the sample solution to bind with the anti-OA monoclonal antibody (OA-MAb). The R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) dye labeled IgG was served as a secondary antibody to perform fluorescence detection. A portable flow cytometry was applied for the in-situ fluorescence quantification. The results showed that the OA concentration was inversely proportional to the R-PE fluorescence intensity. The detection method took within 50 min with a limit of detection (LOD) was 0.05 μg/L and range from 0.2 to 20 μg/L for OA detection. Moreover, the matrix effect and the recovery rate were assessed during real sample measurement, showing a high recovery. Performance features such as high sensitivity, low LOD, speediness and simplicity of the analysis protocol, shows this biosensing-systems as a promising tool for routine use.