Novel fluorescent ELISA for the sensitive detection of zearalenone based on H2O2-sensitive quantum dots for signal transduction.

A direct competitive fluorescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of zearalenone (ZEN) using ZEN labeled catalase (CAT) as a competing antigen with H2O2-sensitive CdTe quantum dots (QDs) for signal transduction. The novel fluorescent ELISA showed very high sensitivity for ZEN detection because it combined the high catalytic activity of CAT to H2O2 and H2O2-sensitive property of QDs. Under optimal conditions, the developed method showed a good dynamic linear detection for ZEN in the range of 2.4pg/mL to 1.25ng/mL with a detection limit of 4.1pg/mL. The median inhibition concentration (IC50) of ZEN was 75pg/mL, which was approximately 17-fold lower than that of horseradish peroxidase-based conventional ELISA. Moreover, our developed method also showed a high reproducibility and an excellent selectivity. In brief, the novel fluorescent ELISA shows great potential for the sensitive and economic detection of mycotoxins and other analytes in food analysis, clinical diagnosis and environmental monitoring.