A Glycoprotein-Based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Lateral Flow Assay Method for Abrin and Ricin Detection

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology

Background:

• Abrin and ricin are highly toxic type II ribosome-inactivating proteins of significant international concern.
• Rapid and sensitive detection methods are critical for emergency response to these toxins.
• Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and lateral flow assay (LFA) offer promising rapid detection capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid and sensitive detection method for abrin and ricin toxins.
• To construct a SERS-LFA platform utilizing stable nanotags and specific glycoprotein recognition molecules.
• To validate the method's performance for on-site toxin detection.

Main Methods:

• Generation of stable, high-affinity nanotags using an efficient freezing method.
• Construction of a sandwich-style lateral flow test strip with asialofetuin and concanavalin A.
• Application of the SERS-LFA method to analyze various spiked and actual samples.

Main Results:

• Achieved limits of detection of 0.1 ng/mL for abrin and 0.3 ng/mL for ricin.
• Demonstrated good agreement with cytotoxicity assays on spiked and real-world samples.
• Exhibited excellent inter-batch and intra-batch reproducibility with detection completed within 15 minutes.

Conclusions:

• The developed SERS-LFA method provides a rapid, sensitive, and reproducible platform for on-site detection of abrin and ricin.
• This technique is suitable for immediate field deployment in emergency situations.
• The study highlights the potential of SERS-LFA for toxin detection and biosecurity applications.