Fluorescent immunoassay for chloramphenicol based on the label-free polyadenine-mediated spherical nucleic acids triggered signal amplification

A fluorescent immunosorbent assay incorporating signal amplification away from the surface of spherical nucleic acid (SNA) was developed for the detection of chloramphenicol (CAP). Through the conjugation of antibodies and poly-adenine (polyA) DNA onto the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), the fabrication of the nano-immunoprobe was achieved in a more straightforward and cost-effective manner. Moreover, a strategy utilizing the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) in the amplification step was devised, with particular attention given to the enzyme inhibition associated with SNA. The results demonstrated good performance on CAP detection with a linear range of 0.01–5 ng/L with a detection limit of 0.005 ng/L. The significance of this work mainly lies in the polyA-SNA-based immunoprobe and the thoughtful design to prevent enzyme inhibition.