Introduction

Due to the rapid onset of symptoms caused by botulinum neurotoxins intoxication, rapid and reliable detection methods are necessary for promptly taking suitable countermeasures. The present invention relies on a smartphone-assisted paper-based peptide sensor for the rapid and onsite monitoring of botulinum neurotoxins in samples.

 

Technical features

The patented material is composed of an electrochemical device based on the use of a sensor printed on paper through the silk-screen printing technique and the wax printing technique. The graphite working electrode is modified with gold nanoparticles through drop-casting. A thiolated synthetic peptide labeled with methylene blue and immobilized on the working electrode with medium gold-thiol bond was used as a recognition probe for BoNT / A and BoNT / C. BoNT / A and C specifically cut the peptide by removing the portion containing the marker, generating a signal variation. The innovation of this system is based on the rapid measurement of the toxin avoiding the use of animals, as the reference analysis system requires the use of mice and several days to obtain the result. In addition, the sensor developed is characterized by mass-producible sensors and does not require the use of enzymes and / or antibodies, resulting in the implementation of reproducibility and stability

Possible Applications

• Agriculture and food supply chain;
• Supermarkets.

Advantages

• Selective, the peptide is not cleaved by other botulinum neurotoxins types;
• Rapid (4h), respect to the standard method;
• Simple to use;
• Miniaturized and disposable kit;
• Possibility of using different matrices.