Preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers and application in a biomimetic biotin-avidin-ELISA for the detection of bovine serum albumin

Immunoassay as a primary analytical tool is widely applied in the field of analysis. However, biological antibodies used in the routine immunoassay exhibit high cost and poor stability. Herein, in this study, a biomimetic ELISA method using molecularly imprinted polymers as a alternative to antibodies was developed. The molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared through dopamine polymerization using Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as magnetic nuclei, bovine serum albumin as a template, dopamine as a functional monomer and crosslinking agent. The molecularly imprinted polymers were characterized by scanning electron micrographs, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer and X-ray diffractometer, respectively. The detection range of the established biomimetic ELISA method was 5–1000 μg mL⁻¹. The method exhibited high selectivity for bovine serum albumin compared with other proteins and good recovery ranging from 89.0% to 102.3% was obtained from spiked bovine serum samples. The results showed that the method by using molecularly imprinted polymers as biomimetic antibodies could be used to detect bovine serum albumin rapidly in bovine serum with a high sensitivity and accuracy. This study demonstrates that the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers by dopamine polymerization can produce material with high affinity and potential to replace antibodies in biomimetic ELISA for protein detection.