Ultrasensitive Visualization of Virus via Explosive Catalysis of an Enzyme Muster Triggering Gold Nano-aggregate Disassembly

Sensitive and accurate diagnosis of viral infection is important for human health and social safety. Herein, by means of explosive catalysis from an enzyme muster, a powerful naked-eye readout platform has been successfully constructed for ultrasensitive immunoassay of viral entities. Liposomes were used to encapsulate multiple enzymes into an active unit. In addition, its triggered rupture could boost the disassembly of gold nano-aggregates that were cross-linked by peptides with opposite charges. As a result, plasmonically colorimetric signals were rapidly generated for naked-eye observation. Further harnessing the immunocapture, enterovirus 71 (EV71), a class of highly infective virus, was sensitively assayed with a detection limit down to 16 copies/μL. It is superior to the single enzyme-anchored immunoassay system. Most importantly, the colorimetric assay was demonstrated with 100% clinical accuracy, displaying strong anti-interference capability. It is expectable that this sensitive, accurate, and convenient strategy could provide a prospective alternative for viral infection analysis, especially in resource-constrained settings.