Fluorescent Nanoprobes with Oriented Modified Antibodies to Improve Lateral Flow Immunoassay of Cardiac Troponin I
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Authors: Lou, Doudou; Fan, Lin; Cui, Yan; Zhu, Yefei; Gu, Ning; Zhang, Yu
Abstract
Performance of nanoprobes can often determine the detection level of Lateral immunochromatography. Traditional probes were limited by the quantity and orientation of antibodies, immune activity of the Fab region or binding strength between protein and substrate. This study developed a new efficient and robust technology to construct fluorescent nanoprobes with oriented modified antibodies, based on specific binding of the Fc region of antibody with streptococcal protein G (SPG) on the surface of polystyrene microspheres (MS) and subsequent covalent cross-linking at binding sites to firm them. Lateral flow immunoassay using these probes was applied for the detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). The significantly improved detection sensitivity demonstrated that antibody orientation on MS surfaces effectively enhanced immunological activities of probes compared with random immobilizing methods. Furthermore, performance evaluation results of lateral flow test strips met clinical requirements perfectly, including limit of detection (0.032 ng/mL), linearity (R > 0.99), repeatability (CV < 10%), correlation (R > 0.99), and heat aging stability. This research also employed heterophilic blocking reagent (HBR) to actively block redundant binding sites of SPG for the first time in order to eliminate false positive interferences, improving the sensitivity and precision of test results further.
An abrupt weakening of the subpolar gyre as trigger of Little Ice Age-type episodes
CLIMATE DYNAMICS
Authors: Moreno-Chamarro, Eduardo; Zanchettin, Davide; Lohmann, Katja; Jungclaus, Johann H.
Abstract
We investigate the mechanism of a decadal-scale weakening shift in the strength of the subpolar gyre (SPG) that is found in one among three last millennium simulations with a state-of-the-art Earth system model. The SPG shift triggers multicentennial anomalies in the North Atlantic climate driven by long-lasting internal feedbacks relating anomalous oceanic and atmospheric circulation, sea ice extent, and upper-ocean salinity in the Labrador Sea. Yet changes throughout or after the shift are not associated with a persistent weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or shifts in the North Atlantic Oscillation. The anomalous climate state of the North Atlantic simulated after the shift agrees well with climate reconstructions from within the area, which describe a transition between a stronger and weaker SPG during the relatively warm medieval climate and the cold Little Ice Age respectively. However, model and data differ in the timing of the onset. The simulated SPG shift is caused by a rapid increase in the freshwater export from the Arctic and associated freshening in the upper Labrador Sea. Such freshwater anomaly relates to prominent thickening of the Arctic sea ice, following the cluster of relatively small-magnitude volcanic eruptions by 1600 CE. Sensitivity experiments without volcanic forcing can nonetheless produce similar abrupt events; a necessary causal link between the volcanic cluster and the SPG shift can therefore be excluded. Instead, preconditioning by internal variability explains discrepancies in the timing between the simulated SPG shift and the reconstructed estimates for the Little Ice Age onset.