Immobilization of a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 mimotope-derived synthetic peptide on Au and its potential application for detection of herceptin in human serum by quartz crystal microbalance.

Therapeutic antibodies are antigenically similar to human antibodies and are difficult to detect in assays of human serum samples without the use of the therapeutic antibody's complementary antigen. Herein for the first time, we established a platform to detect Herceptin in solutions by using a small (<2.2 kDa), inexpensive, highly stable human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) mimotope-derived synthetic peptide immobilized on the surface of a Au quartz electrode. We used the HER2 mimotope as a substitute for the HER2 receptor protein in piezoimmunosensor or quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) assays to detect Herceptin in human serum. We demonstrated that assay sensitivity was dependent upon the amino acids used to tether and link the peptide to the sensor surface and the buffers used to carry out the assays. The detection limit of the piezoimmunosensor assay was 0.038 nM with a linear operating range of 0.038-0.859 nM. Little nonspecific binding to other therapeutic antibodies (Avastin and Rituxan) was observed. Levels of Herceptin in serum samples obtained from treated patients, as ascertained using the synthetic peptide-based QCM assay, were typical for those treated with Herceptin. The findings of this study are significant in that low-cost synthetic peptides could be used in a QCM assay, in lieu of native or recombinant antigens or capture antibodies, to rapidly detect a therapeutic antibody in human serum. The results suggested that a synthetic peptide bearing a particular functional sequence could be applied for developing a new generation of affinity-based immunosensors to detect a broad range of clinical biomarkers.

Diagnosis of dengue infection using a modified gold electrode with hybrid organic-inorganic nanocomposite and Bauhinia monandra lectin.

A sensitive and selective biosensor for dengue serotyping was successfully developed. The biosensor uses a novel gold nanoparticles-polyaniline hybrid composite (AuNpPANI) for the immobilization of Bauhinia monandra lectin (BmoLL). The nanocomposite was applied to a bare gold electrode surface by chemical adsorption, and BmoLL was subsequently electrostatically adsorbed to the nanocomposite-modified surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance (EI) techniques were applied to evaluate the immobilization of BmoLL on AuNpPANI. The AFM images for AuNpPANI-BmoLL-DEN systems indicate a homogenous, compact and dense film of the conjugate. In the EI analyses, an obvious difference of the electron transfer resistance between the AuNpPANI-modified electrode and the bare gold electrode was observed. Among three dengue serotypes studied, dengue serotype 2 (DEN2) has higher values for R(CT), and lower values for both n and Q. These are indications of a larger blocking effect and smaller capacitive dispersion, resulting from the higher agglutination of glycoproteins from the DEN2 sera. The selective BmoLL recognition for various dengue serotypes may be attributed to different patterns of glycoproteins in the sera produced by the glycoprotein immunoresponse from patients infected by the dengue virus.

Impedimetric biosensor based on self-assembled hybrid cystein-gold nanoparticles and CramoLL lectin for bacterial lipopolysaccharide recognition.

We report the development of a new selective and specific electrochemical biosensor for bacterial lipolysaccharide (LPS). An electrode interface was constructed using a l-cysteine-gold nanoparticle (AuNpCys) composite to be immobilized by electrostatic interaction in the network of a poly(vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate maleic acid) (PVM) layer on a gold bare electrode. The impedimetric biosensor is fabricated by self-assembled CramoLL lectin on the PVM-AuNpCys-modified gold electrode through electrostatic interaction. CramoLL is used as the recognition interface. AFM images showed that LPS was specifically recognized on the PVM-AuNpCys-CramoLL system surface. The measurements of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the electrochemical response of a redox probe system (K(4)[Fe(CN)(6)](4-)/K(3)[Fe(CN)(6)](3-)) were blocked, due to the procedures of modified electrode with PVM-AuNpCys-CramoLL. In the majority of the experiments the lectin retained its activity as observed through its interaction with LPS from Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella enterica and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results are expressed in terms of the charge transfer resistance and current peak anodic using the EIS and CV techniques for the development of a biosensor for contamination by endotoxins. A new type of sensor for selective discrimination of LPS types with a high sensitivity has been obtained.