Département de chimie moléculaire

The authors describe herein a newly developed optical immunosensor for detection of antibodies directed against antigens of the Ebola virus strains Zaire and Sudan. The authors employed a photo immobilization methodol. based on a photoactivatable electrogenerated poly(pyrrole-benzophenone) film deposited upon an indium tin oxide (ITO) modified conductive surface fiber-optic. It was then linked to a biol. receptor, Ebola virus antigen in this case, on the fiber tip through a light driven reaction. The photochem. modified optical fibers were tested as an immunosensor for detection of antibodies against Ebola virus, in animal and human sera, by use of a coupled chemiluminescent reaction. The immunosensor was tested for sensitivity, specificity, and compared to std. chemiluminescent ELISA under the same conditions. The analyte, anti-Ebola IgG, was detected at a low titer of 1:960,000 and 1:1000,000 for subtypes Zaire and Sudan, resp. While the same serum tested by ELISA was one order (24 times) less sensitive. [on SciFinder(R)]