Individually addressable electrode array for multianalyte electrochemiluminescent immunoassay based on a sequential triggering strategy

Multianalyte immunoassay in a single run is often necessary to monitor or quantitate several components in a complex sample matrix for various purposes. In this paper we present a novel, individually addressable electrode array for sequential electrochemiluminescent (ECL) immunoassay using a non-array detector. An immunosensor array was fabricated by site-selectively immobilizing multiple antigens on different electrodes. With a competitive immunoassay format, the amounts of the bound Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) derivative labeled antibodies decreased with the increase of the antigens in the sample, and the ECL signals from different immunosensors were collected in turn by a photomultiplier with the aid of a home-made single-pore-three-throw switch. Using human IgG and rat IgG as model analytes, this multianalyte immunoassay showed detection limits down to 8.9 and 7.2 ng mL(-1) for them, respectively. The results for real sample analysis demonstrated that this strategy can provide a simple, sensitive, low-cost and high-throughput ECL immunosensor array for clinical diagnosis.