Convenient and ultrasensitive detection of pesticides is demanded for healthcare and environmental monitoring, which can be realized with a dual-modal strategy. In this paper, based on a biotin-labeled IgG-modified gold nanoparticle (AuNP@IgG-bio) probe, a dual-modal immunosensor was proposed for detecting chloroacetamide herbicides. This platform is relied on the dephosphorylation of ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA2P) by alkaline phosphatase (ALP). In addition to this process, ascorbic acid (AA)-triggered deposition of silver on gold nanostars (AuNSs) and the fluorogenic reaction of dehydrogenated AA and o-phenylenediamine (OPD) occur sequentially. Thus, the dual readout of the color change of red-green-blue (RGB) and fluorescence generation in situ induced by crystal growth can be used. The limits of detection (LODs) were as low as 1.20 ng/mL of acetochlor (ATC), 0.89 ng/mL of metolachlor, 1.22 ng/mL of propisochlor, and 0.99 ng/mL of their mixture by a smartphone and 0.44 ng/mL of ATC, 1.59 ng/mL of metolachlor, 2.80 ng/mL of propisochlor, and 0.72 ng/mL of their mixture by a spectrofluorometer. The recoveries from corn were 91.4–105.1% of the colorimetric mode and 92.4–106.2% of the fluorescent mode. Due to its simple observation mode and good performance, this dual-modal immunosensor possesses considerable application prospects.

α-Toxin, one of the best known pore-forming proteins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), is a critical virulence factor in multiple infections. The necessity of α-toxin for S. aureus pathogenicity suggests that this toxin is an important target for the development of a potential treatment strategy. In this study, we showed that lysionotin, a natural compound, can inhibit the hemolytic activity of culture supernatants by S. aureus by reducing α-toxin expression. Using real-time PCR analysis, we showed that transcription of hla (the gene encoding α-toxin) and agr (the locus regulating hla) was significantly inhibited by lysionotin. Lactate dehydrogenase and live/dead assays indicated that lysionotin effectively protected human alveolar epithelial cells against S. aureus, and in vivo studies also demonstrated that lysionotin can protect mice from pneumonia caused by S. aureus. These findings suggest that lysionotin is an efficient inhibitor of α-toxin expression and shows significant protection against S. aureus in vitro and in vivo. This study supports a potential strategy for the treatment of S. aureus infection by inhibiting the expression of virulence factors and indicates that lysionotin may be a potential treatment for S. aureus pneumonia.

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Given the great harm of pesticide residues to the environment and public health, exploring ultrasensitive and low-cost methods for their quantitative analysis becomes intensely necessary. Herein, we proposed a double-functionalized gold nanoparticle (AuNP) probe as a signal amplification immunoassay for the detection of acetochlor (ATC), metolachlor, and propisochlor. The AuNP was modified with IgG and fluorophore-labeled duplex DNA by a polyadenine-based freezing method. The quenched fluorescence can be effectively recovered via duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) with excellent cleaving activity. This approach provided limits of detection (LODs) down to 0.03 ng/mL for ATC, 0.10 ng/mL for metolachlor, 0.14 ng/mL for propisochlor, and 0.08 ng/ mL for their mixture. The average recoveries of ATC, metolachlor, and propisochlor were 93.0−106.6% from a corn sample, which are in good agreement with the commercial kit (R 2 = 0.9995). This "turn-off" fluorescence immunoassay presents considerable potential in the analysis of chloroacetamide herbicide due to its simple process of probe preparing and ultrahigh sensitivity.

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