Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Immunosensor Reveals the Existence of Silk Products on the Maritime Silk Road

Abstract

The Maritime Silk Road was the major trade route between eastern and western civilizations in the Middle Ages. However, hardly any silk products have been found along the transoceanic trade route. Thus, the extrasensitive detection of silk relic traces has tremendous importance in research regarding the Maritime Silk Road. In this study, an electrochemical immunosensor based on a tailored monoclonal antibody and gold nanoparticles using the layer-by-layer self-assembly method was devised. The fabricated immunosensor demonstrated preeminent performance in the analysis of silk fibroin, with a linear detection range of 0.01−100 ng mL −1 and a detection limit of 3.8 pg mL −1 . In particular, the performance of the immunosensor was excellent in the analysis of ancient silk samples, especially in the qualitative and quantitative detection of soil samples extracted from Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck archeological sites. The proposed electrochemical immunosensor proves the existence of silk products on the Maritime Silk Road and demonstrates enormous potential for studying the formation and development of the ancient transoceanic trading route.

Rapid Enrichment and Detection of Silk Residues from Tombs by Double-Antibody Sandwich ELISA Based on Immunomagnetic Beads

“…The direct contact of external environment with the human body accelerates the degradation of silk fabric and the loss of silk fibroin, which results in low concentrations of the silk fibroin, especially in soil. The ELISA technology based on silk fibroin antibody has been applied to ancient silks, mineralized samples, and silt samples, ,, no matter which kind of sample is much more enriched than soil samples. For the soil samples from the early archaeological sites, even though a large number of experimental soil samples can be obtained, it is not possible to ensure that sufficient amount of silk fibroin can be extracted for ELISA detection.…”

“…The immunological technique combines the sensitivity of enzymatic chemical reactions and the specificity of antigen–antibody reactions, which make it a sensitive and specific detection method . This method has the advantages of rapid detection, high sensitivity, simple operation, and low cost, and it has been rapidly developed and widely used in the field of analysis and detection of ancient protein residues, including the detection of blood, collagen, egg white, and milk in stoneware and pottery residues, adhesives in murals and lacquer, silk protein residues in tombs, and so forth. − …”

Microbial degradation mechanism of historical silk revealed by proteomics and metabolomics

“…Usually, historical silk decays by a combination of biological and chemical processes, whose rates and pathways are a consequence of the special structure of silk. 3 Thus, understanding the causes and deterioration mechanism of ancient silk is not only relevant to the archaeology of ancient silk but also its conservation.…”

Ingenious Electrochemiluminescence Bioaptasensor Based on Synergistic Effects and Enzyme-Driven Programmable 3D DNA Nanoflowers for Ultrasensitive Detection of Aflatoxin B1

“…Currently, several methods are adopted for the measurement of AFB1, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), liquid chromatography (LC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC), immunosorbent assay, − and electrochemical immunosensor. − However, most of these technologies, while providing high reproducibility and accuracy, suffer their own drawbacks. For achieving the effectiveness of these technologies, a lot of issues should be considered including the requirements of complex and time-consuming sample pretreatments, sophisticated and expensive equipment, and well-trained professional operators.…”