Quartz crystal biosensor for detection of the African Swine Fever disease

An immunosensor for the detection of the African Swine Fever (ASF) disease in infected pigs is presented. A sensitive, direct immunoassay for measurements in diluted pig sera was established using the virus protein 73 (VP73) as a highly specific receptor layer for a mass sensitive piezoelectric quartz crystal. The fundamental sensor effect of this transducer is based on the linear dependence of the resonance frequency of an oscillating quartz crystal upon the binding of mass on the coated surface during the measurement. A quartz crystal which is coated with VP73 is an highly specific sensor and allows to detect the ASF-antibodies in the sample through mass accumulation on the surface of the quartz crystal. An appropriate immobilization technique for VP73 was established and a suitable carrier buffer for the flow injection analysis system was developed during this study. Regeneration of the receptor layer is possible for about ten times. With this quartz crystal microbalance, results were available within a few minutes and with a selectivity comparable to a licensed microtiterplate ELISA. Measurements with real pig serum samples have proven the suitability of the quartz crystal biosensor for the classification of positive and negative pig serum samples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.