Well-orientation strategy for direct binding of antibodies: Development of the immunochromatographic test using the antigen modified Fe2O3 nanoprobes for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1

One of the major concerns in the application of nanocarriers in biosensing is the impair of the recognition molecules bioactivity loaded on their surfaces due to harsh and laborious cross-linking and random orientation, resulting in unsatisfactory sensitivity. Herein, we proposed a novel immunochromatographic test strip (FNS-ag-DICTS) by taking advantage of the antigen (ag) modified Fe2O3 nanostructures (FNSs) as new signal tags and goat anti-mouse IgG labeling on the detection line instead of ag, which was used for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). The fabricated FNS-ag can orientate the Fab region of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), waiving the intrinsic limitations of traditional nanomaterials labeled mAbs. Under optimal conditions, FNS-ag-DICTS possessed excellent specificity and a wide detection range, with a visual limit of detection (vLOD) of 0.0125 ng mL−1. In addition, the biosensor successfully detected AFB1 in peanut, green bean and corn, with an average recovery rate of 82.8–124.9%.