A portable photoacoustic device for facile and sensitive detection of serum alkaline phosphatase activity

by Selleckchem | Feb 07 2024

It is still a high challenge to develop a simple, sensitive and portable approach for bioassay in strong scattering medium. Herein, a photoacoustic (PA) device is developed for the detection of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as signal probe, without any requirements for expensive equipment, professional operation and pre-processing of real samples. ALP as an important disease marker could catalyze the breakdown of sodium L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate (AAP) into ascorbic acid (AA), thereby reducing Ag+ to AgNPs. AgNPs could generate strong PA signal under the irradiation of modulated 638-nm laser due to their localized plasmon resonance, and detected by the self-made portable PA device. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the present PA device exhibits excellent photostability and reproducibility with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.2% at the concentration of 25 U L-1 ALP. Linear calibration graph is obtained within 5-70 U L-1 for ALP, along with a detection limit of 1.1 U L-1. This portable PA device is applied to detect ALP in serum samples, providing satisfactory spiking recoveries and competitive analytical performances with the current techniques. The PA-based analytical strategy obviously opens up a new avenue to the detection of disease-correlated biomarker in practice.

Comments:

That sounds like an impressive development! Using a photoacoustic device for detecting alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum by leveraging silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a signal probe is a significant innovation. The ability to detect ALP without requiring expensive equipment or extensive sample pre-processing makes this approach quite promising.

The process, where ALP catalyzes the breakdown of sodium L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate (AAP) into ascorbic acid (AA) and subsequently reduces Ag+ to AgNPs, is a clever way to create a measurable signal. The utilization of AgNPs' localized plasmon resonance to generate a strong photoacoustic (PA) signal under specific laser irradiation is a smart application of nanotechnology in bioassay development.

Achieving excellent photostability and reproducibility with a low relative standard deviation (RSD) at a concentration of 25 U L-1 ALP is remarkable. The linear calibration graph within the range of 5-70 U L-1 for ALP, coupled with a low detection limit of 1.1 U L-1, demonstrates the sensitivity and reliability of this portable PA device for ALP detection.

Moreover, the successful application of this PA device for detecting ALP in serum samples, yielding satisfactory spiking recoveries and competitive analytical performance compared to current techniques, underscores its potential for practical use in disease biomarker detection.

This innovation indeed marks a significant stride forward in bioassay development, offering a promising avenue for detecting disease-correlated biomarkers in clinical practice. The simplicity, sensitivity, and portability of the PA device make it a compelling option for diagnostic applications.