Description:
Antibodies are frequently applied in fast and cheap high-throughput assays to detect different contaminants in the food chain. However, disadvantages are their instability, high production costs, long development/production processes and the need of animal hosts. In principle, the production of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), or plastic antibodies, is easier, faster, cheaper and can be done without animals. Although MIPs are used in affinity columns, only minimal work has been carried out on applications in diagnostic assays.
Research objectives:
The possible application of MIPs in biosensor assays is explored in this project which combines a research group experienced in MIP and biosensor development (KFRI) and a group experienced in food diagnostics (the group Biomolecular Detection of RIKILT). The objective of this combined research project is to share mutual experiences and to use that to develop MIP-based sensors for the detection of mycotoxins, with zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON) as model compounds, in the food chain. Coupling strategies with mass spectrometry for confirmation will also be explored.
Results and products:
The project started in August 2008 and since than Biacore chips (bare gold) were coated with MIPs for ZEA via electropolymerization. These chips were delivered in February 2009 and are under evaluation. The challenge is to find the proper conditions for the re-use of the chips (proper regeneration steps after binding). Chips with MIPs for DON will be delivered in 2009.
RIKILT selected and tested monoclonal antibodies against ZEA and DON for comparison studies. In continutation of this cooperation, RIKILT will present one of its research strategies during a lecture entitled "New screening technologies for food contaminants" to be presented in May 2009 as key lecture at the 76th Annual Meeting and International Symposium organized by the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology (KoSFoST) in Daejeon, South Korea. |
