Gold nanoparticle aptamer assay for the determination of histamine in foodstuffs.

The development of a gold nanoparticle aptamer assay is persued for rapid and sensitive determination of histamine in foodstuffs, which could be deployed for on-site use. The assay is based on a histamine-specific aptamer and gold nanoparticles and the salt-induced aggregation of the particles in the presence of histamine indicated by the color change from red to blue. Gold nanoparticle size, salt type, and concentration as well as aptamer concentration were optimized, and using optimum conditions, a limit of detection of 8 nM (~ 0.

Ultrasensitive aptamer based detection of β-conglutin food allergen.

Lupine has been increasingly used in food applications due to its high nutritional value and excellent functional properties. However, there has been a response to the increasing number of severe cases of lupine allergies reported during the last decade, and as a result lupine was recently added to the list of substances requiring mandatory advisory labelling on foodstuffs sold in the European Union. In this paper we report the robust and ultrasensitive detection of the anaphylactic β-conglutin allergen using Apta-PCR achieving a detection limit of 85 pM (25 ng mL(-1)).

Cloning of human heterohybridoma cell lines using chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells as a feeder layer.

B cells from the peripheral blood of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients were isolated by gradient density centrifugation and used without irradiation as a feeder layer in the cloning of human heterohybridoma cell lines by limiting dilution. Cloning efficiencies were high with all the cell lines tested. These feeder leukemia B cells could also be successfully used after having been stored in liquid nitrogen.