• DOI:10.1177/1753425911410337
• Corpus ID: 800083

Development of an electrochemical Limulus amebocyte lysate assay technique for portable and highly sensitive endotoxin sensor

@article{Inoue2012DevelopmentOA,
  title={Development of an electrochemical Limulus amebocyte lysate assay technique for portable and highly sensitive endotoxin sensor},
  author={Kumi Y. Inoue and Satoko Takahashi and Kosuke Ino and Hitoshi Shiku and Tomokazu Matsue},
  journal={Innate Immunity},
  year={2012},
  volume={18},
  pages={343 - 349}
}

• Kumi Y. Inoue, Satoko Takahashi, +2 authors T. Matsue
• Published 1 April 2012
• Biology, Materials Science
• Innate Immunity

Here, we report the development of an electrochemical detection method for endotoxin based on the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. A mixture of LAL reagent and endotoxin sample solution was incubated for 1 h. The endotoxin activated a cascade reaction of zymogens contained in the LAL to generate p-nitroaniline (pNA) which was then electrochemically detected by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The generated pNA gave a clear peak at –0.75 V vs. silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl), which increased with the concentration of endotoxin in the LAL assay solution. This DPV detection was performed using an electrode chip device fabricated from a diamond-like carbon-coated glass substrate. This chip device could detect as low as 10 endotoxin units l−1 at room temperature within 1 h. This novel electrochemical method for the detection of endotoxin appears promising for the development of compact, low-cost and easy-to-use sensors for on-site monitoring of potentially contaminated medical supplies, including dialysis fluid, transplanted tissue and culture medium for assisted reproduction.