EV71 virus induced silver nanoparticles self-assembly in polymer composites with an application as virus biosensor

We conducted a set of experiments to show that EV71 virus could induce a self-assembly process of silver nanoparticles in polyacrylamide. Silver nanoparticles were self-assembled aggregated to form EV71 specific binding site in the presence of EV71 template. The EV71 composites was applied as an EV71 biosensor to detect EV71 down to 0.0001 PFU/mL and 0.001 PFU/mL in PBS and serum respectively. Partial response to Coxsackie but Zika virus was observed. This was a direct method for EV71 detection in serum alternative to a widely used indirect antibody detection. The virus concentration that triggered silver nanoparticles aggregation was extremely low. This suggests more concern should be put on application of nanoparticles in humans where virus at small quantity could trigger nanoparticle aggregation.