Development of paper-based electrochemiluminescence test strips for pathogenic microorganisms

A novel paper-based electrochemiluminescence test strip (ECL-TS) for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms is developed by combining lateral flow immunochromatography(LFIC) with ECL.

Based on the principle of double-antibody sandwich, monoclonal antibody 1 labeled with tris(bipyridine)ruthenium is fixed on the conjugate pad as the labeled antibody, and monoclonal antibody 2 is directly fixed on the detection pad as the capture antibody. The antibody is Made to flow to the detection region through LFIC and specifically bind to the capture antibody in the detection region. Cyclic voltammetry scanning is carried out at a speed of 0.1 V/s in the detection region to obtain an ECL signal, which is then converted into the content of the virus in the sample to be tested.

Under the optimized conditions, the developed test strip could be detected within 5 min, with a minimum detection Limit of 7.96 pg/mL, a reproducibility deviation of 5.62%, a stability deviation of 6.34%, and a KAPPA value of 0.88, which was specific for the related viruses.

The developed paper-based ECL-TS provides a portable, rapid and sensitive detection method. Taking the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as an example, compared with the nucleic acid detection method, this method has the advantages of being rapid, accurate and low-cost. It is expected to be used as a point-of-care testing (POCT) tool in the detection of pathogenic microorganisms.