Factors influencing the detection limit of the lateral-flow sandwich immunoassay: a case study with potato virus X.

Key factors influencing the analyte detection limit of the sandwich immunochromatographic assay (ICA), namely, the size of gold nanoparticles, the antibody concentration, the conjugation pH, and characteristics of membranes, are discussed. The impacts of these factors were quantitatively characterized and compared for the first time using the same antigen (potato virus X). The antibody-colloidal gold conjugates synthesized at pH 9.0-9.5 (the pH was examined in the range from 7.5 to 10.0) and at an antibody concentration of 15 μg/mL (the concentration was tested from 10 to 100 μg/mL) demonstrated maximum binding with the analyte. The relationship between the size of gold nanoparticles and the ICA detection limit was determined. The detection limit decreases from 80 to 3 ng/mL (for antibodies with K (D) = 1.0 × 10(-9) M, data were obtained using a BIAcore X instrument) for a series of particles with a diameter from 6.4 to 33.4 nm (electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering data). In the case of larger particles (52 nm in diameter), the detection limit increases and reaches 9 ng/mL. A 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 8, and a 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7, were the conditions of choice for the deposition of reactants. Taking into account these facts, we developed a lateral-flow test system for the rapid (10 min) detection of potato virus X in plant leaves. The ICA provided a visual detection limit of 3 ng/mL. In the case of the instrumental processing, potato virus X can be determined in the concentration range from 3 to 300 ng/mL with a detection limit 2 ng/mL.