Double-Enzyme Active Vanadium Nanospheres-Mediated Ratiometric Multicolor Immunosensors for Sensitive Detection of the T-2 Toxin

Owing to its high throughput, simplicity, and rapidity, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has attracted much attention in the field of immunoassays. However, the traditional ELISA usually affords a single signal readout and the labeling ability of the enzyme used is poor, resulting in low accuracy and a limited detection range. Herein, a vanadium nanospheres (VNSs)-mediated competitive ratio nanozymes-linked immunosorbent assay (VNSs-RNLISA) was created for the sensitive detection of the T-2 toxin (T-2). As the key to the biosensor, the VNSs with superoxide dismutase-like and peroxidase-like dual-enzyme mimetic activities were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method, which oxidized 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl fading and catalyzed 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) color development. Therefore, T-2 could not only be qualitatively measured with the naked eye but also be quantitatively evaluated by monitoring the ratio of absorbance at 450 and 517 nm wavelengths. Moreover, the characterization of a VNSs-labeled antibody probe showed strong dual-enzymatic activity, excellent stability, and high affinity with T-2 [the affinity constant (ka) was approximately 1.36 × 108 M–1], which can significantly improve the detection sensitivity. The limit of detection of VNSs-RNLISA was 0.021 ng/mL, which was approximately 27-fold more sensitive than the single signal nanozymes-linked immunosorbent assay (0.561 ng/mL). Besides, the change in the ratio of absorbance (Δ450/Δ517) decreased linearly in a range of 0.22–13.17 ng/mL, outperforming the detection range of a single-mode nano-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using TMB by a factor of 1.6 times. Furthermore, the VNSs-RNLISA was successfully used to identify T-2 in maize and oat samples, with recoveries ranging from 84.216 to 125.371%. Overall, this tactic offered a promising platform for the quick detection of T-2 in food and might broaden the application range of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.