Detection of Plasmodium Lactate Dehydrogenase Antigen in Buffer Using Aptamer-Modified Magnetic Microparticles for Capture, Oligonucleotide-Modified Quantum Dots for Detection, and Oligonucleotide-Modified Gold Nanoparticles for Signal Amplification.

To overcome the limitations associated with antibody-based sensors, we describe a proof-of-concept of an aptamer-based sandwich assay for detection of lactate dehydrogenase, an antigen associated with malaria. We show a detection limit of Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase and Plasmodium vivax lactate dehydrogenase of 0.5 fmole in buffer, comparable to an antibody-based assay, using a magnetic particle-aptamer construct for capture and a quantum dot-aptamer construct for detection. We then demonstrate a detection limit of 10 amole (50-fold amplification) using oligonucleotide-functionalized gold nanoparticles to allow the conjugation of multiple quantum dots for each target antigen.