Development and evaluation of QCM sensors for the detection of influenza virus from clinical samples

Development and evaluation of QCM sensors for the detection of influenza virus from clinical samples

Peduru Hewa, T 2007, Development and evaluation of QCM sensors for the detection of influenza virus from clinical samples, PhD Thesis, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University.

Document type:	Thesis
Collection:	Theses

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Title	Development and evaluation of QCM sensors for the detection of influenza virus from clinical samples
Author(s)	Peduru Hewa, T
Year	2007
Abstract	The Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is a very sensitive mass-detecting device which is based on changes in to the vibrational frequency of quartz crystals after adsorption of substances to a modified crystal surface. In this study a QCM-based biosensor was developed for the rapid diagnosis of influenza viruses and its suitability and limitations were compared with currently available diagnostic methods on 67 clinical samples (nasal washes) received during the 2005 Australian winter. The type-specific and conserved viral M1 proteins of both A/PR/8/34 and B/Lee/40 viruses were used to prepare polyclonal antisera for the development of an ELISA. The limits of detection of ELISAs for the detection of purified A/PR/8/34 and B/Lee/40 ƒnviruses were 20ƒÝg/mL ƒnand 14 ƒÝg/mL using polyclonal antibodies, and 30 ƒÝg/mL and 20 ƒÝg/mL for monoclonal antibodies, respectively. The limit for detection of each virus was 104 pfu/mL, irrespective of whether antisera or monoclonal antibodies were used for capture. Non-purified cell culture-grown preparations of either virus could be detected at 103 pfu/mL The QCM utilised the same reagents used in ELISAs. However, a number of parameters were then further optimised to improve the sensitivity of the tests. These included blocking of non-specific binding, examination of the effects of flow-cell compression, the role of pH, flow rate, antibody concentration and the addition of protein A to the crystal surfaces of the biosensor. The lowest virus concentration that could be detected with the QCM was 104 pfu/mL for egg-grown preparations of both A/PR/8/34 and B/Lee/40, which could be detected within 30 min. However, conjugation of 13 nm gold nanoparticles to a second detector antibody resulted in a 10-fold increase in sensitivity and a detection limit of 103 pfu/mL that could be determined within 1 h. The direct detection of the influenza viruses in nasal samples was not possible by QCM because of the significant frequency fluctuation that was probably caused by the viscosity of the samples. Therefore, an additional culture step of 12 h was required, which increased the processing time to 2 days. The QCM/nanoparticle method was shown to be as sensitive as the standard cell culture method, and the QCM method as sensitive as the shell vial method. The QCM and QCM/nanoparticle methods were shown to be 81 and 87% as sensitive and both were 100% as specific as the real-time polymerase chain reaction. However, for use in rapid diagnosis, improvements are required to remove frequency fluctuation resulting from the direct use of nasal samples.
Degree	PhD Thesis
Institution	RMIT University
School, Department or Centre	School of Applied Sciences
Keyword(s)	Influenza viruses Biosensors--Design and construction

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