Low-Level Detection of Poly(amidoamine) PAMAM Dendrimers Using Immunoimaging Scanning Probe Microscopy.

Immunoimaging scanning probe microscopy was utilized for the low-level detection and quantification of biotinylated G4 poly(amidoamine) PAMAM dendrimers. Results were compared to those of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and found to provide a vastly improved analytical method for the low-level detection of dendrimers, improving the limit of detection by a factor of 1000 (LOD = 2.5 × 10(-13) moles). The biorecognition method is reproducible and shows high specificity and good accuracy. In addition, the capture assay platform shows a promising approach to patterning dendrimers for nanotechnology applications.