An electrochemical scaffold sensor for rapid syphilis diagnosis. Issue 17 (1st August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ogden, Nathan E.; Kurnik, Martin; Parolo, Claudio; Plaxco, Kevin W.
• Is Part Of: Analyst. Volume 144:Issue 17(2019)
• Page Start: 5277
• Page End: 5283
• Publication Date: 2019-08-01
• Subjects: Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; 543
• DOI: 10.1039/c9an00455f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-2654

Abstract

Abstract : The faster a disease is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can be initiated, motivating a drive to replace standard laboratory techniques with point-of-care technology. Here we describe the development of an E-DNA sensor for the rapid measurement of anti-syphilis antibodies. Abstract : The faster a disease can be diagnosed, the sooner effective treatment can be initiated, motivating a drive to replace standard laboratory techniques with point-of-care technologies that return answers in minutes rather than hours. Thus motivated, we describe the development of an E-DNA scaffold sensor for the rapid and convenient measurement of antibodies diagnostic of syphilis. To achieve this (and in contrast to previous sensors of this class, which relied on single, linear epitopes for detection), we utilized a near full-length antigen as the sensor's recognition element, allowing us to simultaneously display multiple epitopes. The resultant sensor is able to detect antibodies against Treponema pallidum pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis, at clinically relevant concentrations in samples in less than 10 min. Preliminary results obtained using sero-positive and sero-negative human samples suggest the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the approach compare well to current gold-standard tests, while being simple and rapid enough to deploy at the point of care.