High-throughput analysis of mumps virus and the virus-specific monoclonal antibody on the arrays of a cationic polyelectrolyte with a spectral SPR biosensor

Applications of Surface Plasmon Resonance and Biolayer Interferometry for Virus–Ligand Binding

Surface plasmon resonance and biolayer interferometry are two common real-time and label-free assays that quantify binding events by providing kinetic parameters. There is increased interest in using these techniques to characterize whole virus-ligand interactions, as the methods allow for more accurate characterization than that of a viral subunit-ligand interaction. This review aims to summarize and evaluate the uses of these technologies specifically in virus–ligand and virus-like particle–ligand binding cases to guide the field towards studies that apply these robust methods for whole virus-based studies.

Recent Advancements in Receptor Layer Engineering for Applications in SPR-Based Immunodiagnostics

The rapid progress in the development of surface plasmon resonance-based immunosensing platforms offers wide application possibilities in medical diagnostics as a label-free alternative to enzyme immunoassays. The early diagnosis of diseases or metabolic changes through the detection of biomarkers in body fluids requires methods characterized by a very good sensitivity and selectivity. In the case of the SPR technique, as well as other surface-sensitive detection strategies, the quality of the transducer-immunoreceptor interphase is crucial for maintaining the analytical reliability of an assay. In this work, an overview of general approaches to the design of functional SPR-immunoassays is presented. It covers both immunosensors, the design of which utilizes well-known and often commercially available substrates, as well as the latest solutions developed in-house. Various approaches employing chemical and passive binding, affinity-based antibody immobilization, and the introduction of nanomaterial-based surfaces are discussed. The essence of their influence on the improvement of the main analytical parameters of a given immunosensor is explained. Particular attention is paid to solutions compatible with the latest trends in the development of label-free immunosensors, such as platforms dedicated to real-time monitoring in a quasi-continuous mode, the use of in situ-generated receptor layers (elimination of the regeneration step), and biosensors using recombinant and labelled protein receptors.

Recent advances in SPR and SERS for sensitive translational medical diagnostics

Personalized medicine is revolutionizing modern health care. The aim of personalized diagnostics is to provide rapid, portable and simple tests that will reduce diagnosis time. They enable rapid analysis performed near the patient and provide specific details of the patient’s condition so that a personalized treatment can be made. This review focuses on the recent advances in optical diagnostic techniques based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) for translational medical diagnostics. In the first part, recent developments in SPR biosensors for infectious disease diagnosis are presented including the first two-dimensional multiplex influenza SPR biosensor for H1N1 (influenza A) and H3N2 (seasonal influenza) detection. In the second part, advances in SERS, which is another ultra-sensitive optical diagnostic technique for various cancer detection applications in pre-clinical and clinical settings, are reviewed.

Y(III) interactions with guanine oligonucleotides covalently attached to aqueous/solid interfaces

The binding of Y(III) ions to surface-immobilized single-stranded 20-mers of guanine was studied using the Eisenthal χ((3)) technique and AFM. The free energy of binding for Y(III) to the G(20) sequence was found to be -39.5(8) kJ/mol. Furthermore, yttrium binds much more strongly to surface-immobilized oligonucleotides than the divalent metals previously reported. At maximum surface coverage, Y(III) ion densities range between one to three ions bound per strand. Comparatively, Mg(II) binds to the G(20)-functionalized interface in much higher ion densities. This result may be explained, in part, by the larger hydration sphere radius of Y(III) compared to that of Mg(II). The ion loading and binding free energy results, in conjunction with other surface and bulk aqueous phase studies, suggest that a fully hydrated +2 or +3 yttrium ion binds to the oligonucleotides through an outer-sphere mechanism. Tapping mode AFM results indicate that oligonucleotide height does not appreciably decrease following Y(III) binding. These results, together with the low ion densities for Y(III) ions, indicate that Y(III) strand loading may not significantly decrease the intrastrand Coulombic repulsions in order to cause a significant decrease in oligomer height.

Downstream processing of cell culture-derived virus particles

Manufacturing of cell culture-derived virus particles for vaccination and gene therapy is a rapidly growing field in the biopharmaceutical industry. The process involves a number of complex tasks and unit operations ranging from selection of host cells and virus strains for the cultivation in bioreactors to the purification and formulation of the final product. For the majority of cell culture-derived products, efforts focused on maximization of bioreactor yields, whereas design and optimization of downstream processes were often neglected. Owing to this biased focus, downstream procedures today often constitute a bottleneck in various manufacturing processes and account for the majority of the overall production costs. For efficient production methods, particularly in sight of constantly increasing economic pressure within human healthcare systems, highly productive downstream schemes have to be developed. Here, we discuss unit operations and downstream trains to purify virus particles for use as vaccines and vectors for gene therapy.

Divalent metal cation speciation and binding to surface-bound oligonucleotide single strands studied by second harmonic generation

The binding of Sr(II), Ca(II), Mg(II), Ba(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) to silica/water interfaces functionalized with A(15)T(6) oligonucleotides was quantified at pH 7 and 10 mM NaCl using the Eisenthal χ((3)) technique. The binding free energies range from -31.1(6) kJ/mol for Ba(II) to -33.8(4) kJ/mol for Ca(II). The ion densities were found to range from 2(1) ions/strand for Zn(II) to 11(1) ions/strand for Cd(II). Additionally, we quantified Mg(II) binding in the presence of varying background electrolyte concentrations which showed that the binding free energies changed in a linear fashion from -39.3(8) to -27(1) kJ/mol over the electrolyte concentration range of 1-80 mM, respectively. An adsorption free energy versus interfacial potential analysis allowed us to elucidate the speciation of the bound Mg(II) ions and to identify three possible binding pathways. Our findings suggest that Mg(II) binds as a fully hydrated divalent cation, most likely displacing DNA-bound Na ions. These measurements will serve as a benchmark for computer simulations of divalent metal cation/DNA interactions for geochemical and biosensing applications.

Specific and nonspecific metal ion-nucleotide interactions at aqueous/solid interfaces functionalized with adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine oligomers

This article reports nonlinear optical measurements that quantify, for the first time directly and without labels, how many Mg(2+) cations are bound to DNA 21-mers covalently linked to fused silica/water interfaces maintained at pH 7 and 10 mM NaCl, and what the thermodynamics are of these interactions. The overall interaction of Mg(2+) with adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine is found to involve -10.0 ± 0.3, -11.2 ± 0.3, -14.0 ± 0.4, and -14.9 ± 0.4 kJ/mol, and nonspecific interactions with the phosphate and sugar backbone are found to contribute -21.0 ± 0.6 kJ/mol for each Mg(2+) ion bound. The specific and nonspecific contributions to the interaction energy of Mg(2+) with oligonucleotide single strands is found to be additive, which suggests that within the uncertainty of these surface-specific experiments, the Mg(2+) ions are evenly distributed over the oligomers and not isolated to the most strongly binding nucleobase. The nucleobases adenine and thymine are found to bind only three Mg(2+) ions per 21-mer oligonucleotide, while the bases cytosine and guanine are found to bind eleven Mg(2+) ions per 21-mer oligonucleotide.

Molecular imaging of membrane proteins and microfilaments using atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an emerging technique for a variety of uses involving the analysis of cells. AFM is widely applied to obtain information about both cellular structural and subcellular events. In particular, a variety of investigations into membrane proteins and microfilaments were performed with AFM. Here, we introduce applications of AFM to molecular imaging of membrane proteins, and various approaches for observation and identification of intracellular microfilaments at the molecular level. These approaches can contribute to many applications of AFM in cell imaging.

Modeling protein binding and elution over a chromatographic surface probed by surface plasmon resonance

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy is used as a scaled-down, analytical, pseudo-chromatography tool for analyzing protein binding and elution over an ion-exchange surface under cyclic sorption conditions. A micrometric-scale adsorption surface was produced by immobilizing a typical ion exchange ligand--diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)--onto commercially available planar gold sensor chip surfaces pre-derivatized with a self-assembled monolayer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid with known density. An explicit mathematical formulation is provided for the deconvolution and interpretation of the SPR sensorgrams. An adsorption rate model is proposed to describe the SPR sensorgrams for bovine serum albumin, used here as model protein, when the DEAE surface is subjected to a cyclic series of binding and elution steps. Overall, we demonstrate that the adsorption rate model is capable of quantitatively describing BSA binding and elution for protein titers from dilute conditions up to overloaded conditions and a broad range of salt concentrations.

Quantitative and rapid analysis of transglutaminase activity using protein arrays in mammalian cells

We developed a novel on-chip activity assay using protein arrays for quantitative and rapid analysis of transglutami-nase activity in mammalian cells. Transglutaminases are a family of Ca2+-dependent enzymes involved in cell regulation as well as human diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases and tumor progression. We fabricated the protein arrays by immobilizing N,N'-dimethylcasein (a substrate) on the amine surface of the arrays. We initiated transamidating reaction on the protein arrays and determined the transglutaminase activity by analyzing the fluorescence intensity of biotinylated casein. The on-chip transglutaminase activity assay was proved to be much more sensitive than the [3H]putrescine-incorporation assay. We successfully applied the on-chip assay to a rapid and quantitative analysis of the transgluta-minase activity in all-trans retinoic acid-treated NIH 3T3 and SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, the on-chip transglutaminase activity assay was sufficiently sensitive to determine the transglutaminase activity in eleven mammalian cell lines. Thus, this novel on-chip transglutaminase activity assay was confirmed to be a sensitive and high-throughput approach to investigating the roles of transglutaminase in cellular signaling, and, moreover, it is likely to have a strong potential for monitoring human diseases.

Array-based spectral SPR biosensor: analysis of mumps virus infection

Spectral SPR biosensor is a useful system for a rapid analysis of protein arrays, as the biosensor with a fiber optic spectrometer can be easily aligned with the reflected light from protein arrays. The spectral SPR biosensor was constructed by Kretschmann geometry, based on the wavelength interrogation with various modules such as protein arrays, optical unit, programs for data acquisition and processing, and a motorized x-y stage for scanning. Protein arrays consist of glass/gold film/linker layer/protein/air. The surface of gold arrays was modified with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and 11-mercap-toundecanoic acid to immobilize mumps virus. The virus arrays were used to analyze anti-mumps virus in a buffer or human serum by the line-scanning mode of the spectral SPR biosensor. The array-based spectral SPR biosensor has a strong potential for a high-throughput serodiagnosis of infectious diseases.

Comparative study of SPR and ELISA methods based on analysis of CD166/ALCAM levels in cancer and control human sera

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR), as a label free method for analysis of various analytes, has significantly advanced in recent years. However, assessment of the performance of SPR compared to label-based immunoassays such as the commonly used multiplexed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is limited, particularly for applications involving complex media. In this work, an optimized SPR assay was implemented and its performance compared with an ELISA assay for CD166/activated cell leukocyte adhesion molecule (ALCAM), as candidate pancreatic cancer marker, based on direct and amplified detection in buffer and in human serum samples from healthy individuals and subjects with cancer. ALCAM antibody was immobilized on the surface of a four-channel SPR sensor via physical adsorption onto charged amine-terminated alkanethiolates to mimic the ELISA plate surface. Excellent correlations between SPR and ELISA results were achieved in buffer and in human serum. SPR detected the target protein with a similar sensitivity to sandwich ELISA, with a detection limit below ng/mL. The detection time, sample consumption, throughput, signal referencing, and surface blocking and washing for detection in human serum were evaluated. It is demonstrated that SPR can distinguish between ALCAM levels in cancer and control sera using direct detection without the need for additional amplification steps.

AFM of biological complexes: what can we learn?

The term "biological complexes" broadly encompasses particles as diverse as multisubunit enzymes, viral capsids, transport cages, molecular nets, ribosomes, nucleosomes, biological membrane components and amyloids. The complexes represent a broad range of stability and composition. Atomic force microscopy offers a wealth of structural and functional data about such assemblies. For this review, we choose to comment on the significance of AFM to study various aspects of biology of selected nonmembrane protein assemblies. Such particles are large enough to reveal many structural details under the AFM probe. Importantly, the specific advantages of the method allow for gathering dynamic information about their formation, stability or allosteric structural changes critical for their function. Some of them have already found their way to nanomedical or nanotechnological applications. Here we present examples of studies where the AFM provided pioneering information about the biology of complexes, and examples of studies where the simplicity of the method is used toward the development of potential diagnostic applications.