Disclosed are a highly sensitive immunoconjugate, and an in vitro reagent and an in vitro diagnostic kit including the same, in which binding specificity with a target substrate is increased and a detection signal is amplified, thereby improving largely the sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility of detection.

The invention discloses a biosensor device (100) to detect the presence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in a biological sample. The device includes an optical fiber probe (104) having a curved portion (104a) with a probe region (105) immobilized with bioreceptor molecules (201) configured to bind to the target molecule V indicative of the presence of the SARS-CoV-2. The probe has a light source (102) and a detector (106) on either end. The device works on the principle of plasmonic fiberoptic absorbance biosensing. Plasmonic gold nanoparticles (120) are used as either sensor substrate over the fiber or labels conjugated with a biorecognition molecule (211). The probe is exposed to a biological sample either directly for label-free detection, or after mixing with labels to realize a sandwich assay. The target biomolecules are detected by a proportional drop in the light intensity passing through the probe.

Provided is a method of preparing composite nanoparticles, which includes: a) preparing a metal nanocore having a nano-star shape from a first reaction solution in which a first metal precursor is mixed with a first buffer solution; b) fixing a Raman reporter in the metal nanocore; and c) forming a metal shell, which surrounds the nanocore in which the Raman reporter is fixed, from a second reaction solution in which the nanocore in which the Raman reporter is fixed, and a second metal precursor are mixed with a second buffer solution.

The present invention relates to multifunctional magnetic-optical nanoparticles.

The multifunctional magnetic-optical nanoparticles according to the present invention are composed of quantum dot nanoparticles and magnetic nanoparticles, and can also be functionalized with biocompatible polymers to specifically allow the capture and detection of biomolecules or biomaterials, as well as quantitative analysis using colorimetric and fluorescence signals. Therefore, the multifunctional magnetic-optical nanoparticles of the present invention can be utilized in various biomedical fields such as disease diagnosis, cell separation and imaging.

Described are multi-functional beads and methods to capture rare cells directly from low-volume biological samples and perform both functional and genomic assays from those cells. This is accomplished using a multifunctional capture bead that allows co-localization of both the single cell capture element and the molecular assay components. When combined with a digital microfluidic platform this enables encoding and/or barcoding of specific single cells.

Embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to a sensor that includes a transduction agent, a plurality of analyte binding agents immobilized on the transduction agent, and a coating agent that forms a coating around at least some of the analyte binding agents. Further embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of detecting one or more analytes in a sample by associating the sample with a sensor of the present disclosure; detecting a signal from the sensor; and correlating the signal to the presence or absence of the one or more analytes in the sample. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of making the sensors of the present disclosure by immobilizing a plurality of analyte binding agents on a transduction agent; and coating at least some of the analyte binding agents with a coating agent to form a sensor.

Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe) utilizing a heteropolymer adsorbed onto and templated by a nanoparticle surface to recognize a specific target analyte can be used for macromolecular analytes, including proteins. A variant of a CoPhMoRe screening procedure of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) can be used against a panel of human blood proteins, revealing a specific corona phase that recognizes fibrinogen and insulin, respectively, with high selectivity.

A method for the isolation, or isolation and detection, of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood or lymph, or disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) from bone marrow. CDCP1 is used as a biomarker for the isolation of CTCs or DTCs having a mesenchymal phenotype (mCTC, mDTC) or a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype (emCTC, emDTC). Isolation can, for example, be done immunomagnetically using anti-CDCP1 antibodies coupled to magnetic particles.

Provided herein is a sensing apparatus comprising, at least one LSPR light source, at least one detector, and at least one sensor for LSPR detection of a target chemical. The sensor comprises a substantially transparent, porous membrane having nanoparticles immobilized on the surface of its pores, the nanoparticles being functionalized with one or more capture molecules. There is further provided a self-referencing sensor for distinguishing non-specific signals from analyte binding signals. The self-referencing sensor comprising one or more nanoparticles having at least two distinct LSPR signals.

Compositions comprising multiple hydrogel particles having substantially the same diameter, but with each subgrouping of particles from the multiple hydrogel particles having different associated values for one or more passive optical properties that can be deconvoluted using cytometric instrumentation. Each hydrogel particle from the multiple hydrogel particles can be functionalized with a different biochemical or chemical target from a set of targets. A method of preparing hydrogel particles includes forming droplets and polymerizing the droplets, with optional functionalization.