A NOVEL BIOSENSOR FOR DIRECT ANTIBODY DETECTION BASED ON THE ANTIBODY-CATALYZED WATER OXIDATION PATHWAY

Abstract

Current medical practice to diagnose Lyme Borreliosis involves observation of symptoms combined with serological detection of antibodies against Borrelia antigens using ELISA and Western blotting. These methods detect the captured serum antibodies by using secondary reagents that present certain limitations such as non-specific binding leading to false positives, species-specificity, time-intensive incubation steps and increased cost. We report a novel biosensor based on the antibody-catalyzed water oxidation pathway (ACWOP), that directly detects captured antibodies by using their intrinsic catalytic property and generates an antibody-dependent colorimetric signal. The sensor uses inexpensive porous silica microparticles functionalized with an antigen and other ACWOP cofactors to capture specific antibodies on a surface and detect them via the ACWOP. By eliminating secondary reagents, our sensor acts as a species-independent and inexpensive platform that aids in transitioning to our ultimate goal of developing a point-of-care device for widespread monitoring of Lyme disease across multiple hosts.