Nanozymatic magnetic nanomotors as active nanoprobes for rapid and multiple detection of cTnI by lateral flow immunoassay - Article

Sep 29, 2026

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Conventional lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) cannot deliver rapid diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction through cardiac troponin I (cTnI) detection because of limited sensitivity and speed. To overcome this, a nanozymatic magnetic nanomotor (Fe3O4@PDA@AuNS, MPAuNS) is proposed as an active nanoprobe. Its Fe3O4 core and PDA shell with gold nanostars enable multimode colorimetric, photothermal, and catalytic LFIA readouts, increasing signal intensity while magnetotaxis accelerates flow and catalytic activity enhances diffusion and reduces probe residue, improving speed and sensitivity within the assay time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Summary

Introduction

Limitations of conventional LFIA for cTnI

Strategies to improve LFIA sensitivity and multiplexing

Nanomotors as active nanoprobes for enhanced LFIA performance

Nanozymes and catalytic LFIA approaches

iScience Article Nanozymatic magnetic nanomotors as active nanoprobes for rapid and multiple detection of cTnI by lateral flow immunoassay Authors Yuqi An, Junling Chen, Tao Ma, Dandan Xu, Feng Liang Correspondence [xudandan@wust.edu.cn](xudandan@wust.edu.cn) (D.X.), [feng_liang@whu.edu.cn](feng_liang@whu.edu.cn) (F.L.) In brief Analytical chemistry; Immunoassay; Sensor; Nanoparticles; Materials science; Magnetic materials • Integrated colorimetric, photothermal, and catalytic LFIA for cTnI detection • The self-propulsion of nanoprobes accelerated LFIA detection An et al., 2026, iScience 29, 114330 January 16, 2026 © 2025 The Author(s) . Published by Elsevier Inc. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114330](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114330) ll iScience ll OPEN ACCESS Article Nanozymatic magnetic nanomotors as active nanoprobes for rapid and multiple detection of cTnI by lateral flow immunoassay Yuqi An,1 Junling Chen,1 Tao Ma,1 Dandan Xu,1,2,* and Feng Liang1,* 1The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China 2Lead contact *[Correspondence:](Correspondence: xudandan@wust.edu.cn)[ xudandan@wust.edu.cn](Correspondence: xudandan@wust.edu.cn) (D.X.), [feng_liang@whu.edu.cn](feng_liang@whu.edu.cn) (F. L.) [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114330](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114330) SUMMARY Conventional lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are unable to achieve the rapid diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) via cardiac troponin I (cTnI) detection due to their limited sensitivity and speed. To overcome this, ananozymatic magnetic nanomotor (Fe3O4@PDA@AuNS, MPAuNS) is proposed asan active nanoprobe. The nanoprobe, composed of a Fe3O4 core and a PDA shell where gold nanostars grow, enables multimode detection, including colorimetric, photothermal, and catalytic LFIAs, significantly boosting signal intensity. Specifically, the magnetic property of Fe3O4 and the glucose oxidase-like catalytic activity of AuNS endow the MPAuNS nanoprobes with both magnetotaxis behavior and enhanced diffusion, which respectively enhance the flow rate and reduce probe residue in the test strip, thus improving detection speed and sensitivity within a given assay time. Such a platform offers diverse detection options for the rapid and highly sensitive diagnosis of cTnI, holding great potential for medical guidance on the early diagnosis of AMI. INTRODUCTION Acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the leading cause of death among cardiovascular diseases, has been an important global health problem for nearly two decades.1 3 to 4 h after the onset of AMI symptoms, highly specific cTnI will be released into the bloodstream, making it the preferred biomarker of AMI.2 ,3 Therefore, rapid and highly sensitive detection of cTnI is essential for the auxiliary diagnosis of AMI in emergency situations, which is beneficial for the implementation of appropriate treatment measures to improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients. Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), a paper-based detection platform that combines nanomaterial labeling technology with the specific response between antigen and antibody to achieve visual detection of analytes, has been widely used for the pointof-care detection of disease biomarkers.4 ,5 Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), as the most commonly used nanoprobes for LFIA, have poor sensitivity, semi-quantitative capability, and a single signal output mode, in in vitro diagnostics, which hinder the widespread application of LFIA.6–8 To address these issues, nanomaterials with a high extinction coefficient were developed to boost the sensitivity of LFIA,6 which exhibit more intense color than the red of Au. In addition, multifunctional nanocomposites are proposed for multi-signal readout to achieve quantitative detection and improve the accuracy of the r

FAQs

Why do conventional LFIAs struggle with rapid cTnI diagnosis for acute myocardial infarction?

They lack sufficient sensitivity and speed, which prevents timely detection of cTnI in the emergency setting needed for auxiliary AMI diagnosis.

What is the proposed active nanoprobe for cTnI detection?

A nanozymatic magnetic nanomotor (Fe3O4@PDA@AuNS, MPAuNS) combining a magnetic Fe3O4 core and a PDA shell that supports gold nanostars for multimode sensing.

How does the nanomotor improve both detection speed and sensitivity?

Fe3O4 provides magnetotaxis to accelerate the flow and supports enhanced diffusion, while the AuNS glucose oxidase-like catalytic activity amplifies signal and reduces probe residue on the test strip during the assay time.

Sep 29, 2026

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