All ETDs from UAB

Advisory Committee Chair

Rakesh Kapoor

Advisory Committee Members

Upender Mann

James C Martin

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2008

Degree Name by School

Master of Science (MS) College of Arts and Sciences

Abstract

We report highly specific and sensitive detection of proteins in serum samples using a combination tapered fiber-optic biosensor (CTFOB) dip-probe. Sandwich immunoassay was used to generate specific fluorescence signal. A novel competitive adsorption strategy was used to reduce the false signal from non specific binding to a negligible level. Moreover, the similar strategy was also used to reduce the loss of target protein and increase the accuracy of immunoassay. The probes do not require pre-treatment with any blocking buffer. The specificity of the sensor was established by using negative control probes. The CTFOB probes were able to detect human interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in the presence of much higher concentration (1 mg/ml) of a non-specific protein, specifically, IL-6 was detected down to a concentration of 5 pM (0.12 ng/ml) while IL-8 was detected down to 500 pM (4.2 ng/ml). These findings suggests that CTFOB probes can be used to detect analytes in different biologic fluids with high specificity and sensitivity; thus, can be used as a low-cost rapid tool in clinical diagnostic laboratories.

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