Accurate quantification of disease markers in human serum using iron oxide nanoparticle-linked immunosorbent assay

Accurate and reliable quantification of biomarkers in the blood is essential in disease screening and diagnosis. Here we describe an iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP)-linked immunosorbent assay (ILISA) for detecting biomolecules in human serum. Sandwich ILISA was optimized for the detection of four important serological markers, IgA, IgG, IgM, and C-reactive protein (CRP), and assessed with normal sera, simulated disease-state sera and the serum samples from patients infected with West Nile virus (WNV) or human herpes virus (HHV). Our study shows that using the detection assay formulated with 18.8 nm wüstite nanocrystals, ILISA can achieve sub-picomolar detection sensitivity, and all four markers can be accurately quantified over a large dynamic range. In addition, ILISA is not susceptible to variations in operating procedures and shows better linearity and higher stability compared with ELISA, which facilitates its integration into detection methods suitable for point of care. Our results demonstrate that ILISA is a simple and versatile nanoplatform for highly sensitive and reliable detection of serological biomarkers in biomedical research and clinical applications.