Magnetophoretic Immunoassay of Allergen-Specific IgE in an Enhanced Magnetic Field Gradient

We demonstrate a novel magnetophoretic immunoassay of allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) based on the magnetophoretic deflection velocity of a microbead that is proportional to the associated magnetic nanoparticles under enhanced magnetic field gradient in a microchannel. In this detection scheme, two types of house dust mites, Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae) and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D. pteronyssinus), were used as the model allergens. Polystyrene microbeads were conjugated with each of the mite extracts followed by incubation with serum samples. The resulting mixture was then reacted with magnetic nanoparticle-conjugated anti-human IgE for detection of allergen-specific IgE by using sandwich immuno-reactions. A ferromagnetic microstructure combined with a permanent magnet was employed to increase the magnetic field gradient (∼104 T/m) in a microfluidic device. The magnetophoretic velocities of microbeads were measured in a microchannel under applied magnetic field, and the averaged...