Cristina
Adrover-Jaume
ab,
Estrella
Rojo-Molinero
c,
Antonio
Clemente
*a,
Steven M.
Russell
a,
Javier
Arranz
de,
Antonio
Oliver
c and
Roberto
de la Rica
*ab
aMultidisciplinary Sepsis Group, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Spain. E-mail: roberto.delarica@ssib.es; antonio.clemente@ssib.es
bDepartment of Chemistry, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. de Valldemossa km 7.5, 07021, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
cServicio de Microbiología, Hospital Son Espases, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma de Mallorca, Spain
dEscola Graduada Health Center, Mallorca Primary Care Department, Balearic Health Service, Spain
eInfectious Diseases in Primary Care Group (GMISBAL), Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Spain
First published on 6th October 2020
Urinary tract infections (UTI) have a high prevalence and can yield poor patient outcomes if they progress to urosepsis. Here we introduce mobile origami biosensors that detect UTIs caused by E. coli at the bedside in less than 7 minutes. The origami biosensors are made of a single piece of paper that contains antibody-decorated nanoparticles. When the urine sample contains E. coli, the biosensors generate colored spots on the paper strip. These are then quantified with a mobile app that calculates the pixel intensity in real time. The tests are highly specific and do not cross-react with other common uropathogens. Furthermore, the biosensors only yielded one false negative result when queried with a panel containing 57 urine samples from patients, which demonstrates that they have excellent sensitivity and specificity. This, along with the rapid assay time and smartphone-based detection, makes them useful for aiding in the diagnosis of UTIs at the point of care.
In this manuscript we introduce a new tool for diagnosing UTIs based on the rapid detection of bacteria in urine with mobile biosensors (i.e. biosensors interfaced with a mobile device). The biosensors consist of a lab-on-chip device made of a single piece of paper. This paper biosensor is folded following a simple origami pattern in order to enable all of the analytical steps required to detect the target6–9 Our device is one of the few origami immunosensors that is entirely made of cellulose, it does not require using other materials in order to store antibody-decorated nanoparticles.10,11 Instead, it uses polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) in order to fabricate nanoparticle reservoirs directly on filter paper.12 This reservoir is separated from the detection area by a wax barrier, which is easily drawn manually without using wax printers. The immunosensors were designed in order to detect pathogens above the infectious threshold as soon as possible and with the easiest analytical procedure, since these are the key points that make a biosensor useful in the doctor's office, where there is limited time to diagnose and prescribe therapies. Accordingly, all analytical steps were designed to reduce the turnaround assay time below 10 min and to detect pathogens with a concentration of 105 cells per mL or higher (clinical infectious threshold1) without diluting the sample, since this procedure would be cumbersome at the bedside.
The origami sequence that made this possible is shown in Fig. 1. First, a drop of urine is added and dried for 30 s (Fig. 1A). This method physically adsorbs the pathogens and other components of the urine to the cellulose matrix. After adding a blocking solution for less than 10 s, the biosensor is folded in order to transfer antibody-covered gold nanoparticles from a reservoir to the capture area for 5 min (Fig. 1B). After a quick washing procedure, a colored spot appears on the paper. The pixel intensity of the colored spot correlates to the biospecific recognition of the pathogen by the antibody (Fig. 1C). In this detection scheme the color is generated by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the gold nanoparticles, which is centered around 531 nm (nanoparticle size ca. 40 nm, Fig. S1†). Finally, the pixel intensity is quantified with a mobile app previously developed in our laboratory.13 The app automatically finds the region of interest and compensates for changes in illumination while at the same time guiding the user to the correct positioning of the smartphone with respect to the paper biosensor, all within a few seconds (Fig. 1D). With our app, there is no need to use external attachments or light-tight boxes for quantifying color consistently.14 The resulting origami mobile immunosensors were able to detect E. coli above the clinical infectious threshold in patient samples with a total assay time under 7 min. This rapid assay time, along with the minimal infrastructure requirements, make the biosensors ideal for clinical decision-making in a wide array of healthcare environments, from diagnosing UTIs in primary care to identifying the pathogen responsible for a urosepsis in the ICU. The biosensors were tested against 5 other uropathogens as well as with a panel of 57 different patient samples. Compared to other uropathogen immunosensors proposed in the literature, our biosensors yield results faster and only require an unmodified smartphone as a reader.15–21 Furthermore, they do not require a sample precondition step.14 They are also faster and easier to use than biosensors based on detecting nucleic acids.22–25 Moreover, the biosensors provide more information about the type of pathogen causing the UTI compared to the traditional urine strip. While this information is limited to a single pathogen at the moment, it has the potential to be expanded into a multi-sensor design including multiple reservoirs with antibody-decorated nanoparticles against different types of pathogens.
Paper biosensors were made of Whatman #41 paper sheets cut into 2 × 8 cm strips. The strips were subdivided into four 2 × 2 cm squares that could be folded like an accordion as shown in Fig. 1A.26 Next a wax barrier was added between the top square and the rest of the strip by placing the paper substrate on a hot plate and drawing a line with a piece of paraffin. The heat from the plate melts the paraffin and helps it penetrate the paper therefore creating a hydrophobic wax barrier after cooling (Fig. S3†). Next, 30 μL of 30% PSS was added in the center of the top square and left to dry at room temperature for at least 30 min. Finally, reservoirs containing anti E. coli-decorated nanoparticles were obtained by adding 1 μL of the colloidal suspension in the middle of the dried PSS spot and letting it dry at room temperature for 10 min.12 The resulting biosensors could be stored in vacuum sealed bags at 4 °C for at least 14 days without noticeable loss in performance (Fig. S4 in ESI†).
Detection of bacteria with the proposed origami biosensors proceeded as follows. First, 10 μL of the sample was added to the second square of the strip and dried with a hairdryer for 30 seconds (Fig. 1A and Fig. S2†). Afterwards, the last three squares of the paper strip were folded and 1 mL of PBS-BSA was added. Subsequently, antibody-decorated nanoparticles were transferred by folding the top square (Fig. 1B). This brings together the nanoparticle reservoir and the detection area where the bacteria are bound. After pressing with a clamp for 5 min, the reservoir is peeled off of the detection platform and the receiving paper is washed 3 times with 1 mL of PBST. The colorimetric signal is measured immediately afterwards with the mobile app.13
Experiments to determine whether bacteria interact specifically with avidin or streptavidin were conducted as follows. Solutions containing E. coli and E. faecalis (100 μL) at different concentrations in PBS were dried onto 96-well ELISA plates (Nunc MaxiSorp, Thermo Scientific) by means of overnight incubation at 37 °C on a heating plate. Next, plates were washed 3 times with PBST, blocked during two hours at room temperature (RT) with PBS-BSA and washed again 3 times. Then, 100 μL of streptavidin-HRP diluted 1:3000 in PBST was added for 30 minutes at RT. Subsequently, the plates were washed 5 times with PBST and 100 μL of 100 mg mL−1 of TMB supplemented with 1.2 mM of hydrogen peroxide in 50 mM acetate buffer (pH 5.0) was added for 10 minutes at RT. Finally, the colorimetric reaction was stopped with 100 μL of 2N H2SO4 and optical density (OD) was measured at 450 nm.
Next we calibrated the mobile biosensors with solutions containing different known concentrations of E. coli. Gram positive S. viridans was used as a control to test the specificity of the antibody–antigen interaction. In Fig. 3A, samples containing E. coli yield dose-dependent signals that followed the typical sigmoidal shape seen in immunodetection methods. The limit of detection, expressed as the sample that yields a signal higher than 3 times the standard deviation of the blank (99% confidence), is 105 cells per mL. Control experiments with S. viridans yielded signals that are below the limit of detection in all the concentrations assayed, which demonstrates that the dose-dependent signals observed during the analysis of E. coli samples are originated by the specific recognition of the pathogen with antibody-decorated nanoparticles. We then tested the selectivity of the biosensors with samples containing some the most prevalent pathogens in UTIs. In Fig. 3B, solutions containing P. mirabilis, E. cloacae or K. pneumoniae always yield signals that are lower than the limit of detection for E. coli. However, E. faecalis is detectable at a concentration of 105 cells per mL or higher with the same biosensors, which indicates that the antibody-decorated nanoparticles are establishing non-specific interactions with these bacteria. This came as a surprise because E. faecalis is Gram positive, and therefore, no cross-reactivity was expected with the antibodies.
It has been shown that some microorganisms generate biotinylated proteins, and because of this they interact with streptavidin-modified probes.27 In our biosensor design antibodies are bound to the nanoparticles by means of avidin–biotin interactions. Since avidin has 4 biotin binding sites, these are likely not fully occupied by biotinylated antibodies. With this in mind, we hypothesized that avidin could be responsible for the selectivity issues shown in Fig. 3B. To test this hypothesis, we physically adsorbed bacteria at different concentrations on an ELISA plate and added streptavidin-peroxidase. After washing away excess reagents, we quantified the presence of bacteria-streptavidin interactions by adding a chromogen and measuring the generation of color by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In Fig. 4A, E. faecalis yields signals that are higher than those obtained with E. coli, which indicates that the streptavidin-HRP complex interacts specifically with E. faecalis. We then sought to eliminate this interference in our biosensors by repeating the calibration curve shown in Fig. 3 with nanoparticles modified with anti-E. coli and capped with biotinylated polyethylene glycol (biotin-PEG). In Fig. 4B, E. coli shows a dose-dependent behavior whereas E. faecalis always yields very low signals independently of the concentration of bacteria in the sample. These experiments demonstrate that the selectivity issues in Fig. 3B are caused by avidin–biotin interactions, and that these issues can be alleviated by capping free biotin-binding sites with biotin-PEG. Furthermore, E. coli signals fit well to a linear regression model in the concentration range between 104 and 107 cells per mL (y = 6.6x − 9.5, r2 = 0.93).
Fig. 4 Origin of non-specific interactions between E. faecalis and antibody-decorated nanoparticles. Optical density (OD) or colorimetric signal (S) with respect to the concentration of E. faecalis (red triangles) or E. coli (black dots) after incubating cells with streptavidin-HRP (A); or after repeating the calibration experiment in Fig. 3 with nanoparticles capped with biotin-PEG (B) (semi-logarithmic scale). Dotted lines show the signal above 3 times the standard deviation of the E. coli blank. |
After studying the selectivity of our biosensors towards the recognition of different uropathogens, we sought to determine whether they could be used to detect UTIs in real samples. To this end, a panel of 57 patient samples that included UTIs by E. coli, UTIs by other pathogens, and negative samples was queried with our biosensors. All samples were obtained from the Microbiology Unit at Son Espases University Hospital. They were analyzed using bacteriological culture following clinical guidelines. According to these guidelines, bacteriuria is defined by a positive urine culture with a bacteria concentration equal or higher than 105 cells per mL.28,29 Quantification above this threshold is not associated with disease severity or a different diagnosis, and therefore it is not performed in the standard clinical routine. Fig. 5 shows the comparison between our biosensors and the gold standard bacteriological culture following this criterion. Samples that yield signals above 2 times the standard deviation of the mean value of negative samples are considered E. coli positive. Following this criterium, only one sample from E. coli UTI yielded a false negative. Samples containing other bacteria always yielded signals below the threshold value, which corroborates the excellent selectivity of our biosensor. The test diagnostic sensitivity (true positive rate) is 95.5%, and the specificity (true negative rate) is 100%. These results demonstrate that our mobile biosensors are useful for detecting pathogens in real samples rapidly and with high accuracy, which paves the way for their implementation in clinical practice.
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/d0an01218a |
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 |