TY - JOUR
T1 - Highly bright aggregation-induced emission nanoparticle-based ratiometric lateral flow immunoassay for sensitive and user-friendly detection of carcinoembryonic antigen
AU - Liu, Qi
AU - Zhang, Jiangjiang
AU - Wang, Kenian
AU - Chen, Xirui
AU - Zhang, Jinming
AU - Dong, Hangming
AU - Tang, Ben Zhong
AU - Li, Ying
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2026/12/1
Y1 - 2026/12/1
N2 - The development of ultrasensitive and visually recognizable point-of-care testing (POCT) sensors for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is of great importance. Advanced ratiometric strategies have been developed to improve visual recognition capability. However, most existing ratiometric methods rely on inorganic materials, which raise concerns regarding long-term biological and environmental impact. To address this, we developed an organic ratiometric fluorescent lateral flow immunoassay (FLFIA) based on matched aggregation-induced emission nanoparticles (AIENPs) for CEA detection and systematically evaluated its visual readout capability, sensitivity, accuracy, and robustness. By transforming the mono fluorescent brightness signal into a clearer green-to-red shift signal, the AIENP-based ratiometric FLFIA achieved a visual limit of detection (vLOD) of 1.25 ng/mL for CEA, representing a 3.28-fold more sensitive than the mono-response LFIA. Preliminary clinical serum measurements show a positive correlation with a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (R2 = 0.97), while non-expert color-card matching achieved an accuracy exceeding 92%. This work provides a promising solution for visual, sensitive, and user-friendly POCT.
AB - The development of ultrasensitive and visually recognizable point-of-care testing (POCT) sensors for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is of great importance. Advanced ratiometric strategies have been developed to improve visual recognition capability. However, most existing ratiometric methods rely on inorganic materials, which raise concerns regarding long-term biological and environmental impact. To address this, we developed an organic ratiometric fluorescent lateral flow immunoassay (FLFIA) based on matched aggregation-induced emission nanoparticles (AIENPs) for CEA detection and systematically evaluated its visual readout capability, sensitivity, accuracy, and robustness. By transforming the mono fluorescent brightness signal into a clearer green-to-red shift signal, the AIENP-based ratiometric FLFIA achieved a visual limit of detection (vLOD) of 1.25 ng/mL for CEA, representing a 3.28-fold more sensitive than the mono-response LFIA. Preliminary clinical serum measurements show a positive correlation with a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (R2 = 0.97), while non-expert color-card matching achieved an accuracy exceeding 92%. This work provides a promising solution for visual, sensitive, and user-friendly POCT.
KW - Aggregation-induced emission luminogens
KW - Carcinoembryonic antigen
KW - Ratiometric lateral flow immunoassays
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105047561792
U2 - 10.1016/j.snb.2026.140682
DO - 10.1016/j.snb.2026.140682
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105047561792
SN - 0925-4005
VL - 468
JO - Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical
JF - Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical
M1 - 140682
ER -