Establishment of Double-antigen Sandwich Time-resolved Fluorescence Immunoassay for Detection of Pest des Petits Ruminants Virus

[Objectives]This study was conducted to explore rapid and large-scale screening and detection of peste des petits ruminants(PPR),so as to provide important technical means for prevention,control and purification of PPR.[Methods]Soluble N protein and NH fusion protein were successfully obtained in an Escherichia coli expression system by optimizing E.coli codon and expression conditions.Furthermore,based on purified soluble N protein and NH fusion protein,a double-antigen sandwich time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay method for detection of peste des petits ruminants virus(PPRV)was established.[Results]The method has high sensitivity and specificity and can specifically detect the antibody against PPRV in sheep serum,and it has no cross reaction with other related diseases.The method was used to detect 292 clinical samples,and compared with French IDVET competition ELISA kit.The coincidence rates of positive samples and negative samples from the two kinds of test kits were 92.47%and 97.26%,respectively,and the overall coincidence rate was 94.86%.The intra-group and inter-group coefficients of variation in the repeatability test were less than 10%.[Conclusions]Compared with the traditional ELISA method,the double-antigen sandwich time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay for detection of PPRV has equivalent sensitivity and specificity,and simple and rapid operation,and thus high application and popularization value.

Assembling Tunable Time-Resolved Fluorescence Layer onto Nano-Gold

The assembling of a coating of time-resolved fluorescent chelator BSPDA （ abbreviated for 4, 7-bis （ sulfhydrylphenyl）-1, 10-phenanthroline-2, 9-dicarboxylic acid） onto a nano-gold layer was demonstrated. First, BSPDA was synthesized by simple procedures, and then an approach was developed to immobilize BSPDA onto the nano-gold layer deposited on a silane modified glass substrate, whereby europium ion （Ⅲ, Eu^3＋ ） was captured and released owing to the interactive process of complexation and dissociation between BSPDA functionalized coating and Eu^3＋ solution. The fluorescence spectra and related lifetimes were determined. Also, the BSPDA functionalized coating＇s specific complexation with Eu^3＋ on the BSPDA assembly layer and the nonspecific adsorption of Eu^3＋ on the nano-gold layer were compared. These results allowed a selective complexation of Eu^3＋ by assembling a BSPDA chelating layer on the nano-gold layer; thus, a tunable time-resolved fluorescent layer was covalently attached, The results of the nanoparticle assembling and probing （or labeling） processes to specific bio-systems were very interesting and had significant implications to time-resolved-fluorescence-based detection on biosensor surfaces such as DNA chip and to arrayed light display devices.

An ultrasensitive time-resolved fluorescent immunoassay method for determination aflatoxins B1 in edible oil

Edible oil is one major nutritional ingredient to human and widely consumed directly. The contamination of aflatoxin B1 （AFB1） in edible oils has been attracted exten-sive efforts due to its hazard to human health and life. To avoid the digestion of edible oils contaminated by AFB1 the development of rapid and sensitive sensing method for AFB1 is required. Herein, a quantitative, sensitive and rapid method for AFB1 detection in edible oils was proposed by using ultrasensitive time-resolved fluorescent immunosensing （TRFIS） method. This method poses unique advantages from both time-resolved fluorescent sens-ing method and immunochromatographic assay format. The nanospheres were modified with fluorescent europium and then captured the home-made monoclonal antibody against AFB1 （3G1）. After optimization, by using a competitive immunosensing manner, this TRFIS method has a detectable linear range of 0.54-20.0 μg/kg with minimum detectable concen-tration of 0.18μg/kg. It can be completed merely within 10 min with recovery from 87.0% to 121.9%. The agreement was observed between the results by TRFIS and high perfor-mance liquid chromatography （HPLC） methods. This research provides a promising sens-ing method for sensitive and rapid determining AFB1 in edible oils.

Development of time-resolved immunofluorometric assays for the detection of house dust mite-allergic IgE in human sera

Dermatophagoides farinae and D. pteronyssinus are the prevalent house dust mites (HDM) in tropical countries and are associated with allergic diseases. This investigation developed a time- resolved immunofluorometric assay (TR-IFMA) for the first time to detect specific IgE antibody in patients with skin prick test positive to HDM but no detectable IgE by other means. Levels of IgE to natural and recombinant HDM allergens were measured by TR-IFMA in 50 HDM-allergic patients and 19 healthy participants compared to sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A recombinant allergen, rDerf2, showed a 14 kDa band corresponding to broad range proteins of natural HDM.TR-IFMA showed sensitivity lower than 0.35 kUA/l. TR-IFMA employing three HDM antigens showed good correlations with sandwich ELISA at R2 0.93-0.96. TR-IFMA detected HDM IgE in 62, 62, 25 percent of allergic patient serum sample compared to 28, 32, and 22 percent detected by ELISA result using three HDM allergen. TR-IFMA also detected 26.3, 31.6, and 5.3 percent positive samples from 19 healthy participants while ELISA showed 0, 5.3, and 0 percents IgE positive samples. The use of rDerf2 as an HDM allergen for the assay was verified with no statistically different from other HDM allergens. TR-IFMA showed lower detection limit than ELISA and yielded higher sensitivity for serum of people with allergic symptoms with no detectable HDM IgE. It is anticipated that TR-IFMA for HDM-specific IgE detection will play an important role in future diagnosis of HDM allergy in clinical laboratories and for different research purposes.

Screening and identification of bioactive compounds from citrus against non-structural protein 3 protease of hepatitis C virus genotype 3a by fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay and mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus genotype 3a(HCV G3a)is highly prevalent in Pakistan.Due to the elevated cost of available Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs against HCV,medicinal natural products of potent antiviral activity should be screened for the cost-effective treatment of the disease.Furthermore,from natural products,active compounds against vital HCV proteins like non-structural protein 3(NS3)protease could be identified to prevent viral proliferation in the host.AIM To develop cost-effective HCV genotype 3a NS3 protease inhibitors from citrus fruit extracts.METHODS Full-length NS3 without co-factor non-structural protein 4A(NS4A)and codon optimized NS3 protease in fusion with NS4A were expressed in Escherichia coli.The expressed protein was purified by metal ion affinity chromatography and gel filtration.Citrus fruit extracts were screened using fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)assay against the protease and polyphenols were identified as potential inhibitors using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry(MS)/MS technique.Among different polyphenols,highly potent compounds were screened using molecular modeling approaches and consequently the most active compound was further evaluated against HCV NS4A-NS3 protease domain using FRET assay.RESULTS NS4A fused with NS3 protease domain gene was overexpressed and the purified protein yield was high in comparison to the lower yield of the full-length NS3 protein.Furthermore,in enzyme kinetic studies,NS4A fused with NS3 protease proved to be functionally active compared to full-length NS3.So it was concluded that co-factor NS4A fusion is essential for the purification of functionally active protease.FRET assay was developed and validated by the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)values of commercially available inhibitors.Screening of citrus fruit extracts against the native purified fused NS4A-NS3 protease domain showed that the grapefruit mesocarp extract exhibits the highest percentage inhibition 91%of protease activity.Among the compounds identified by LCMS analysis,hesperidin showed strong binding affinity with the protease catalytic triad having S-score value of-10.98.CONCLUSION Fused NS4A-NS3 protease is functionally more active,which is effectively inhibited by hesperidin from the grapefruit mesocarp extract with an IC50 value of 23.32μmol/L.

Fluorescent competitive assay for melamine using dummy molecularly imprinted polymers as antibody mimics

A fluorescent competitive assay for melamine was first developed utilizing dummy molecularly imprinted polymers（DMIPs） as artificial antibodies. This method is based on the competition between fluorescent substances and the unlabeled analyte for binding sites in synthesized DMIPs and the decreased binding of fluorescent substances to DMIPs due to increased concentrations of melamine in the solutions. DMIPs for melamine were synthesized under a hot water bath in the presence of the initiator azobisisobutyronitrile（AIBN） using 2,4-diamino-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazine（DAMT） as a dummy template, methacrylic acid（MAA） as a functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate（EGDMA） as a crosslinking agent. The adsorption capacity and selectivity of DMIPs for melamine were evaluated by the isothermal adsorption curve and Scatchard analysis. The evaluation results showed that the synthesized DMIPs had specific recognition sites for melamine and the maximum adsorption amount was 1 066.33 μg g^（-1）. Later, 5-（4,6-d ichlorotriazinyl） amino fluorescein（DTAF） with a triazine ring, which s lightly resembles m elamine, w as selected as the fluorescent substance. The fluorescent competitive assay using DMIPs as t he antibody mimics was finally established by selecting and optimizing the reaction solvents, DMIPs amount, DTAF concentration, and incubation time. The optimal detection system showed a linear response w ithin range of 0.05-40 mg L^（-1） and the limit of detection（LOD） was 1.23 μg L^（-1）. It was successfully applied to the detection of melamine in spiked milk samples wi th satisfactory recoveries（71.9 to 86.3%）. According to the comparative analysis, the result of optimized fluorescent competitive assay re vealed excellent agreement with the HPLC-MS/MS result for melamine.

Time-resolved Luminescence-based Chemosensor for Fluoride Anion

A new europium complex is descried as a time-resolved luminescence-based sensor for fluoride anion. The sensor is selective even in the presence of intensive background fluorescence.

Preliminary Study of the CAS-LIBB Single-Particle Microbeam Ⅱ Endstation: Ⅰ. Proposed Multi-Dimensional Quantitative Fluorescence Microscopy

Single-particle microbeam as a powerful tool can open a research field to find answers to many enigmas in radiobiology. A single-particle microbeam facility has been constructed at the Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering （LIBB）, Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）, China. However there has been less research activities in this field concerning the original process of the interaction between low-energy ions and complicated organisms. To address this challenge, an in situ multi-dimensional quantitative fluorescence microscopy system combined with the CAS-LIBB single-particle microbeam II endstation is proposed. In this article, the rationale, logistics and development of many aspects of the proposed system are discussed.

Intense Long-Lived Fluorescence of 1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-Hexatriene: Emission from the S₁-State Competes with Formation of O₂Contact Charge Transfer Complex

The fluorescence kinetics of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) dissolved in cyclohexane was investigated as a function of temperature, concentration and 355 nm excitation pulse energy. At concentrations above 2.5 μM and excitation energies above 1 mJ a long-lived, very intense emission, which appears within less than 5 ns and lasts up to 70 ns, is observed. During the first 50 ns the decay does not follow an exponential but rather a linear behaviour. In oxygen saturated solutions the long-lived emission is suppressed and solely short-lived fluorescence with τ 1-state and competes with the formation of DPH-O2 contact charge-transfer complexes and intersystem crossing which both quench the fluorescence. Our investigations show that even the small amount of oxygen dissolved in nitrogen saturated solutions has a distinct influence on the fluorescence kinetics of DPH.

The Fluorescence Immunochromatographic Strips for Natamycin and Its Application in Food Safety Detection

A fluorescence immunochromatographic strip was developed in this study for natamycin detection in food. The results showed that the best amount of labeled antibody was 10 μg, for every 50 μl of fluorescent microspheres with a 2.5%(w/v) concentration. This labeled antibody was diluted for 10 times, and the diluted solution was dispensed into conjugate pad at the amount of 3 μl/cm. The concentrations of natamycin labeled BSA for test line and goat anti-mouse IgG for control line were 2.0 and 1 mg/ml, respectively, which performed best. With the best conditions, the limit of detection was 1 ng/ml, the linearity ranged from 2 to 100 ng/ml, the recovery was about 80% to 120%, and the CV was below 23%.

Enhancement of rapid lifetime determination for time-resolved fluorescence imaging in forensic examination

An enhancement method of rapid lifetime determination is proposed for time-resolved fluorescence imaging to discriminate substances with approximate fluorescence lifetime in forensic examination. In the method, an image-exclusive-OR treatment with filter threshold adaptively chosen is presented to extract the region of interest from dual-gated fluorescence intensity images, and then the fluorescence lifetime image is reconstructed based on the rapid lifetime determination algorithm. Furthermore, a maximum and minimum threshold filtering is developed to automatically realize visualization enhancement of the lifetime image. In proof experiments, compared with traditional fluorescence intensity imaging and rapid lifetime determination method, the proposed method automatically distinguishes altered and obliterated documents written by two brands of highlighters with the same color and close fluorescence lifetime.

Von Willebrand Factor Antigen and ADAMTS13 Activity Assay in Pregnant Women and Severe Preeclamptic Patients

The present study examined von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels and ADAMTS13 activity in pregnant and severe preeclamptic women in order to shed light on the prothrombotic state in severe preeclampsia.Thirty healthy women of childbearing age,22 second trimester pregnant women,30 third trimester pregnant women and 10 severe preeclamptic patients were recruited in this study.ADAMTS13 activity was determined by the FRETS-vWF73 assay and vWF antigen (vWF:Ag) levels by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in plasma vWF antigen levels between the severe preeclamptic and third trimester pregnant women,between third and second trimester pregnant women (P【0.05).The third trimester pregnant women had significantly lower plasma ADAMTS13 activity than second trimester pregnant women (P【0.05).Nevertheless,no significant differences in plasma ADAMTS13 activity were found between severe preeclamptic patients and the third trimester pregnant women (P】0.05).In conclusion,plasma ADAMTS13 activity is normal in severe preeclampsia despite the increased vWF:Ag levels.Prothrombotic state is involved in the pathogenesis of severe preeclampsia,as a result of endothelial injury.

Energy transfer mechanism of PBS-thylakoid complexes——By time-resolved fluorescence spectra technique

IN a previous paper, we have studied the energy transfer mechanism among the PBS-thy-lakoid complex in detail by using steady-state spectra and deconvolution techniques. The ex-perimental results indicated that the energy transfer from PBS to two reaction centers of PS Ⅰand PS Ⅱ were parallel, and confirmed the model which was suggested by Mullineaxu.

A carbon nanoparticle-peptide fluorescent sensor custom-made for simple and sensitive detection of trypsin

Herein,we report a novel sensor to detect trypsin using a purpose-designed fluorescein-labelled peptide with negatively charged carbon nanoparticles(CNPs)modified by acid oxidation.The fluorescence of the fluorescein-labelled peptide was quenched by CNPs.The sensor reacted with trypsin to cleave the peptide,resulting in the release of the dye moiety and a substantial increase in fluorescence intensity,which was dose-and time-dependent,and trypsin could be quantified accordingly.Correspondingly,the biosensor has led to the development of a convenient and efficient fluorescent method to measure trypsin activity,with a detection limit of 0.7 mg/mL.The method allows rapid determination of trypsin activity in the normal and acute pancreatitis range,suitable for point-of-care testing.Furthermore,the applicability of the method has been demonstrated by detecting trypsin in spiked urine samples.

TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY OF HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE LASER No. 3

Ⅰ. INTRODUCTIONPhotodynamic therapy (PDT) which utilizes hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) as a photosensitizing drug has increasingly being used for the local treatment of malignant tumors. The success of this method is attributed to the ability of HpD to accumulate to

STEADY-STATE AND TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE STUDY OF TRIPLE EXCIPLEX IN THE SYSTEM OF POLYACENAPHTHALENE AND TEREPHTHALIC DIMETHYLESTER

Triple exciplex formed between polyacenaphthalene and terephthalic dimethylester (TDE) has been studied by means of the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectra. The theoretical model of the triple exciplex formation for a flexible polymer chain in a dilute solution has been proposed. The fluorescence decays of the monomer, the exciplex and the triple exciplex obey a double exponential rule in the pbotophysical processes of the triple exciplex formation. The association rate constant of the exciplex formation is k_3=6.0×10~9s^(-1)(mol/L)^(-1); the association rate constant of the triple exciplex formation is k_6=5.2×10~7s^(-1). A mechanism for the triple exciplex formation from the exciplex to the triple exciplex has been proved through the noncrystal films corresponding to the same concentrations of the solution systems and the fluorescence lifetimes of the intramolecular excimer.

TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE STUDY OF TRIPLE EXCIPLEX FORMED IN THE SYSTEM OF POLY(2-VINYL) NAPHTHALENE AND TEREPHTHALIC DIMETHYLESTER

An intramolecular excimer of poly(2- vinyl) naphthalene was formed by non-adjacentchromophores interaction, then a triple exciplex was formed by interaction with the acceptormolecule further in dilute solution. The lifetime of the intramolecular excimer of poly(2-vinyl) naphthalene, τ_2 = 18.83 ns and the rate constant for the triple exciplex formation,k_7 = 4. 18× 10~9 (mol/L)^(-1)s^(-1), under diffusion-control were measured. An excimer or anexciplex could be an intermediate of the triple exciplex formation. A theoretical model ofthe triple exciplex formation is proposed.

Complexation of radionuclide ^152＋154Eu(Ⅲ) with alumina-bound fulvic acid studied by batch and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy

To contribute to the understanding of Eu(Ⅲ)interaction properties on hydrous alumina particles in the absence and presence of fulvic acid(FA),the complexation properties of Eu(Ⅲ)with hydrous alumina,FA and FA-alumina hybrids are studied by batch and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy(TRLFS)techniques.The continuous increase in the fluorescence lifetime of Eu-alumina and Eu-FA with increasing pH indicates that the complexation is accompanied by decreasing number of hydration water in the first coordination sphere of Eu(Ⅲ).Eu(Ⅲ)is adsorbed onto alumina particles as outer-sphere surface complexes of≡(Al-O)-Eu·(OH)·7H_2O and≡(Al-O)-Eu·6H_2O at low pH values,and as inner-sphere surface complexes as≡(Al-O)_2-Eu^+·4H_2O at high pH.In FA solution,Eu(Ⅲ)forms complexes with FA as(COO)_2Eu^+(H_2O)_x and the hydration water number in the first coordination sphere decreases with pH increasing.The formation of≡COO-Eu-(O-Al≡)·4H_2O is observed on FA-alumina hybrids,suggesting the formation of strong inner-sphere surface complexes in the presence of FA.The surface complexes are also characterized by their emission spectra[the ratio of emission intensities of^5D_0→~7F_1(λ=594nm)and^5D_0→~7F_2(λ=619nm)transitions]and their fluorescence lifetime.The findings is important to understand the contribution of FA in the complexation properties of Eu(Ⅲ)on FA-alumina hybrids that the clarification of the environmental behavior of humic substances is necessary to understand fully the behavior of Eu(Ⅲ),or its analogue trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions in natural environment.

Average Arrival Time:an Alternative Approach for Studying Fluorescent Behavior of Single Quantum Dotst

Due to photoluminescence intermittency of single tional exponential fluorescence lifetime analysis is colloidal quantum dots （QDs）, the tradinot perfect to characterize QDs＇ fluores- cent emission behavior. In this work we used the time-tagged time-resolved （TTTR） mode to record the fluorescent photons from single QDs. We showed that this method is compatible with the traditional lifetime analysis. In addition, by constructing the trajectory over time and the distribution of average arrival time （AAT） of the fluorescent photons, inore details about the emission behavior of QDs were revealed.

A Fluorescent Cell-Based Technique for Monitoring Efflux of MRP4

Background: Overexpression of efflux pumps is the drug resistance and adaptation mechanism employed by some eukaryotes and bacteria to transport endogenous and chemotherapeutic compounds from the intracellular to the extracellular environment. Aim: The study aimed at establishing a fluorescent cell-based assay to monitor the efflux activities of an ABC-transporter, multi-drug resistance protein 4 (MRP4). Methods: DH5α competent E. coli cells were transformed with pcDNA-MRP4 by the heat-shock process. The presence of the MRP4 gene was analyzed by the digestion of plasmid using EcoRI and analyzed on a 1% agarose gel. HEK 293 cells were transfected with purified pcDNA-MRP4 under optimized conditions using a Polyethylenimine (PEI) protocol. The level of MRP4 in the HEK 293 cells was characterized by western blotting analysis using M4I-10 anti-MRP4 and anti-Rat IgG (whole molecule)-Alkaline phosphatase antibodies. The fluorescent uptake study was performed by the incubation of 0.02 mM 8-[fluo-cAMP] with the MRP4-transfected and control HEK 293 cells for 1 h. The level of fluorescence was analyzed using fluorescence microscopy and spectrometer. Results: The agarose gel analysis showed a plasmid of 9.4 kb and restriction product of 5 kb, which correspond with the pcDNA and MRP4 sizes respectively. The western blot results of the transfection showed 4 μg pcDNA-MRP4 and the N/P ratio of 9 was the optimized condition to transfect our HEK 293 cells as it showed the broadest band. In the efflux studies, the fluorescence images of the MRP4-transfected HEK 293 cells were very low compared to the untransfected control. The level of fluorescence accumulation was significantly (P ≤ 0.0001) higher 228.6 ± 13.1 RFU in the untransfected cells than the MRP4-transfected cells 8.6 ± 1.8 RFU. Conclusion: The higher levels of fluorescence detected in the control in both the fluorescent microscopy and spectrophotometer showed that MRP4-transfected cells had effluxed the 8-[fluo-cAMP] substrate out of the cell. This method could be employed in the detection of MRP4 functions in bacteria and cancer cells.