Antibodies functionalized magnetic Fe-metal-organic framework based biosensor for electrochemical detection of tetanus neurotoxin

Abstract

This work presents a metal-organic framework (MOF)-integrated microfluidic flow-cell (MFC) based immunodetection of the tetanus toxoid (TT) using electrochemical technique for the first time. The magnetic property of Fe-MOF helped to hold them on the working electrode at detection zone of MFC surpassing the requirement of additional conjugation chemistry, whereas the conductive property was utilized to observe the change in signal efficiency in the presence of TT. The one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of a magnetic and conductive iron-based MOF (Fe-MOF) was performed using the Fe^3 +/Fe²⁺ precursors as 1.2/1 mmol and dual ligands, i.e., tetrahydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-aminobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid. The Fe-MOF was conjugated with L-phenylalanine (Fe-MOF/Phe) to increase its electric conductivity owing to the enhanced electron flow rate. The human monoclonal antibody SA13 against TT (anti-TT mAb) was conjugated on the Fe-MOF/Phe surface with the help of ethylenediamine (Fe-MOF/Phe/EDA/anti-TT mAb). The binding affinity of Fe-MOF/Phe/EDA/anti-TT mAb for the TT antigen was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry technique. The limit of detection of the Fe-MOF/Phe/EDA/anti-TT mAb-based biosensor for TT was 9.4 ng/ml in spiked buffer. This study shows the applicability of these Fe-MOFs in the detection of various other microbial toxins or other biomolecules.