Abstract
Background: Microorganisms that can be potentially used as agents of bioterrorism need to be detected quickly and reliably. Most preferably, detection should take place directly on site suspected of contamination so that appropriate actions can be taken as soon as possible. An analytical method that could be applied for such purpose should be fast, accurate and possible to be used in portable devices. Due to its ability of detection in real-time, high sensitivity and miniaturization potential, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) appears to be an ideal method to be used in on-site detection of biological warfare.
Methods: We used SPR technique for detection of biological warfare contamination. We demonstrated a prototype detecting device utilizing miniature TI Spreeta 2000 SPR chips. The device has been equipped with chips modified by covalent bonding of antibodies for specific detection of factors used as biological warfare - bacteria and spores. Results: The results show that our system is capable of detecting biological warfare in samples of concentrations starting from 50 cfu/ml and can be used for on-site detection or environmental monitoring. Conclusion: Binding selected antibodies onto surfaces of SPR chips resulted in construction of sensors capable of detecting biological warfare agents. The sensitivity of method, as well as detection limits vary depending on the type of agent being investigated but generally are fully acceptable for a device that would be used on site of the contamination for first scanning and examination of environmental samples. Presented work demonstrates that technique of surface plasmon resonance can be successfully used for detection of biological warfare.Keywords: SPR, miniature analytical systems, biological warfare detection, microorganisms, bioterrorism, surface plasmon resonance.
Graphical Abstract
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