Development of antibody-engineered molecularly imprinted polymers for selective capture of aflatoxin B1 from starchy food and medicinal materials

[Display omitted] •The design of MIPs was driven by the recognition of antibody to antigen.•The functional monomers provided multi-site interactions derived from amino acid residues in the process of MIPs’ adsorption.•A new dummy template of AFB1, 5,7-dimethoxycyclopentenone [2,3-c]coumarin, was employed in the preparation of MIPs for the recognition of target AFB1.•The elucidation of mechanism and contribution of functional groups and imprinted cavities for selective adsorption of AFB1 provided a different approach to improving functional monomers and templates in MIPs.•The solid phase extraction cartridges packed DMPC-ATry-MIPs@SiO2 are a promising alternative to immunoaffinity columns in the real sample analysis. Molecularly imprinted polymers(MIPs) have been widely used as selective recognition materials for analysis and detection of mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1(AFB1). However, little attention was given to investigate key factors that affecting selectivity and specificity of MIPs, such as functional monomers and imprinted cavity compatibility. Inspired by the recognition of antibody to antigen, we designed and employed amino acids as functional monomers with multiple interaction sites via hydrogen bonding and aromatic π-π stacking, meanwhile, synthesized structurally matched alternative template, 5,7-dimethoxycyclopentenone [2,3-c]coumarin(DMPC) to prepare MIPs via silica surface grafting. The adsorption of antibody-engineered MIPs was enhanced significantly compared to that of MIPs prepared by conventional functional monomers and dummy templates for selective capture of AFB1. And the specific recognition sites of MIPs left by DMPC conferred the most remarkable selectivity toward AFB1 among aflatoxins. The mechanism and contribution of functional groups and imprinted cavities for selective adsorption of AFB1 were elucidated, providing a different approach to improving functional monomers and templates in MIPs. The solid phase extraction cartridges packed DMPC-ATry-MIPs@SiO2 were used for enrichment of AFB1 in Lotus seeds and Coix seeds. The recoveries were 94.48–112.90 % and 83.32–116.04 % respectively, even after being used five times repeatedly. The cartridges could replace expensive and low-reusability immunoaffinity columns in the analysis and detection of AFB1 in real samples, providing a kind of promising sample pretreatment materials for trace analysis in food and drugs.