Highly Sensitive Determination of Concanavalin A Lectin Based on Silver-Enhanced Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence of Luminol

A highly sensitive bioassay based on silver-enhanced luminol electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) is reported for the determination of concanavalin A lectin. A gold electrode modified with the mixed self-assembled monolayer of thiolated mannoside and mercaptohexanol was used to selectively capture a target lectin, concanavalin A, through the specific interaction between mannoside and concanavalin A. Mannoside-functionalized gold nanoparticles were further introduced to the opposite binding sites of the tetrameric concanavalin A to form a sandwich-type complex. Silver enhancement step was performed to coat the surface of mannose-stabilized gold nanoparticles with silver. The deposited silver was dissolved in an acidic solution and further neutralized. The resulting silver ions were finally detected with luminol electrogenerated chemiluminescence, in which the silver ions greatly enhanced the chemiluminescence intensity. The present electrogenerated chemiluminescence bioassay detected concanavalin A from 0.190 to 10.0 µg/mL (r² = 0.999) with a detection limit of 0.146 µg/mL (signal to noise ratio = 3), which is much lower compared to previously reported methods such as microgravimetry, surface plasmon resonance, and colorimetry. Furthermore, the present bioassay showed good selectivity over possible interfering lectin proteins.