Development of a highly sensitive, field operable biosensor for serological studies of Ebola virus in central Africa

A Petrosova; T Konry; S Cosnier; I Trakht; J Lutwama; E Rwaguma; A Chepurnov; E Mühlberger; L Lobel; R S Marks

doi:10.1016/j.snb.2006.07.005

Development of a highly sensitive, field operable biosensor for serological studies of Ebola virus in central Africa

Sens Actuators B Chem. 2007 Mar 26;122(2):578-586. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2006.07.005. Epub 2006 Aug 14.

Authors

A Petrosova¹, T Konry¹, S Cosnier², I Trakht³, J Lutwama⁴, E Rwaguma⁴, A Chepurnov⁵, E Mühlberger⁶, L Lobel⁷, R S Marks^{1

8}

Affiliations

¹ The Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.
² Laboratoire d'Electrochimie Organique et de Photochimie Redox, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France.
³ Department of Medicine, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
⁴ Department of Arbovirology, Emerging and Reemerging Diseases, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
⁵ Special Pathogens Unit, BSL-4 Laboratory, Vector, Koltsvo, Novosibirsk, Russia.
⁶ Institute of Virology, Philips University, Marburg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Virology, Faculty of Health Science, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.
⁸ The National Institute for Biotechnology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.

Abstract

We describe herein a newly developed optical immunosensor for detection of antibodies directed against antigens of the Ebola virus strains Zaire and Sudan. We employed a photo immobilization methodology based on a photoactivatable electrogenerated poly(pyrrole-benzophenone) film deposited upon an indium tin oxide (ITO) modified conductive surface fiber-optic. It was then linked to a biological receptor, Ebola virus antigen in this case, on the fiber tip through a light driven reaction. The photochemically modified optical fibers were tested as an immunosensor for detection of antibodies against Ebola virus, in animal and human sera, by use of a coupled chemiluminescent reaction. The immunosensor was tested for sensitivity, specificity, and compared to standard chemiluminescent ELISA under the same conditions. The analyte, anti-Ebola IgG, was detected at a low titer of 1:960,000 and 1:1,000,000 for subtypes Zaire and Sudan, respectively. While the same serum tested by ELISA was one order (24 times) less sensitive.

Keywords: Ebola virus; Electropolymerization; Immunosensor; Optical fibers; Poly(pyrrole-benzophenone).