Gold nanoparticle-based lateral flow assay for detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B

The lateral flow assay (LFA), a rapid, sensitive, and reproducible technique, was successfully applied to detect staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). The assay was based on a double-antibody sandwich format on a porous nitrocellulose membrane. When SEB-containing samples were applied to the LFA-device, the toxin initially reacted with polyclonal antibody (Pab)-coated colloidal gold particles and then reacted with the fixed Pab on the membrane. These reactions resulted in a red line at the detection zone, with intensity proportional to the SEB concentration (under 100 ng/ml). With this method, 1 ng/ml of SEB can be detected in less than 5 min and was highly reproducible. Signal can be amplified to 10 pg/ml by silver enhancement. This assay also showed no cross-reaction with other SEs, such as SEA, SEC, SED and SEE. The assay was significantly faster than the ELISA or real-time PCR assay and should facilitate early and rapid SEB detection in clinical and food samples.