We report the application of an integrated optical Young interferometer sensor for ultrasensitive, real-time, direct detection of viruses. We have validated the sensor by detecting herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), but the principle is generally applicable. Detection of HSV-1 virus particles was performed by applying the virus sample onto a sensor surface coated with a specific antibody against HSV-1. The performance of the sensor was tested by monitoring virus samples at clinically relevant concentrations. We show that the Young interferometer sensor can specifically and sensitively detect HSV-1 at very low concentrations (850 particles/mL). We have further demonstrated that the sensor can specifically detect HSV-1 suspended in serum. Extrapolation of the results indicates that the sensitivity of the sensor approaches the detection of a single virus particle binding, yielding a sensor of unprecedented sensitivity with wide applications for viral diagnostics.

We have demonstrated the feasibility of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) multisensing by monitoring four separate immunoreactions simultaneously in real time using a multichannel SPR instrument. A plasmon carrying gold layer, onto which a four-channel flow cell was pressed, was imaged at a fixed angle of incidence. First, the fourchannels were coated with antibodies and then the flow cell was turned by 90°such that the flow channels overlapped the areas coated in the first step. In that geometry, antigens were applied to the different antibodies on the surface. Thus, all antibody-antigen combinations can be measured in a two-dimensional array of sensor surfaces in real time. Our results do correlate with expected immunologic specificity. The emphasis will be on presenting this method to obtain data on immunosystems and not as much on the assessment of biological activity.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract