COBALT FERRITE NANOPARTICLES IMMOBILIZED IN MICROFLUIDIC IMMUNOSENSOR FOR THE DETECTION OF GALACTOMANNANS IN THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF INVASIVE ASPERGILLOSIS

SOFIA V. PIGUILLEM; MARTÍN FERNANDEZ BALDO; GERMÁN A. MESSINA; JULIO RABA

Temuco

Workshop; 1er Workshop-online Latinoamericano en Nanobiotecnología. Aplicaciones en Agricultura, Medicina e Industria Textil; 2020

Universidad de La Frontera

Invasive aspergillosis are all diseases caused by various species of the Aspergillus fungus that most frequently affect immunosuppressed patients, generallyby inhalation of their spores, causing morbidity and mortality. Its diagnosis is usually late or post-mortem, being in many cases a necrotic finding, so an earlydiagnosis is essential to establish an effective antifungal treatment. Galactomannan (GMN) is a polysaccharide component of the Aspergillus cell wall that isreleased during tissue invasion. Currently, this antigen is only detected by an ELISA-type immunoenzymatic technique, which motivates us to develop animmunosensor for the detection of GMN with LED quantification. A magnetic nanoplatform is proposed as cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CoFe2O4 NPs) toimmobilize and trigger an immunoassay on them, finally detecting the antigen in human serum samples. The usefulness of nanoparticles is to increase thereaction surface in the central channel of the microfluidic microsensor, having in favor their easy mobility with an external magnetic field. The nano (bio) analytical microsensor developed is a non-invasive diagnostic tool, with a shorter analysis time than conventional methodologies. A smaller amount ofsample is required, obtaining results with a lower detection limit, making it a more sensitive device.Finally, the immunosensor developed for the detection of GMN is simple to use, specific, reproducible and promises to be a reliable method for the early clinicaldiagnosis of invasive aspergillosis.