A specific Tween-80-Rhodamine S-MWNTs phosphorescent reagent for the detection of trace calcitonin

Abstract The present study proposed a simple sensitive and specific immunoassay for the quantification of calcitonin (CT) in human serum with water-soluble multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The COOH group of MWNTs could react with the NH group of rhodamine S (Rhod.S) molecules to form Rhod.S-MWNTs, which could emit room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) on acetate cellulose membrane (ACM) and react with Tween-80 to form micellar compound. Tween-80-Rhod.S-MWNTs (TRM), as a phosphorescent labelling reagent, could dramatically enhance the RTP signal of the system. The developed TRM phosphorescent reagent was used to label anti-calcitonin antibody (Ab CT ) to form the TRM-Ab CT labelling product, which could take high specific immunoreaction with CT, and the Δ I p (= I p2  −  I p1 , I p2 and I p1 were the phosphorescence intensity of the test solution and the blank sample, respectively) of the system was linear to the content of CT. Hence, a new solid substrate room temperature phosphorescence immunoassay (SSRTPIA) was established for the determination of CT in human serum. This sensitive (limit of quantification (LOQ) was 8.0 × 10 −14  g mL −1 ), accurate, selective and precise method has been applied to determine CT in human serum and predict primary osteoporosis and fractures, with the results in good agreement with those obtained by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA). Simultaneously, the structure of MWNTs was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (IR), and the reaction mechanisms of both labelling Ab CT with TRM and SSRTPIA for the determination of trace CT were discussed.