Electrochemical characterization of globotriose-containing self-assembled monolayers on nanoporous gold and their binding of soybean agglutinin

Application of Porous Materials to Carbohydrate Chemistry and Glycoscience

There is a growing interest in using a range of porous materials to meet research needs in carbohydrate chemistry and glycoscience in general. Among the applications of porous materials reviewed in this chapter, enrichment of glycans from biological samples prior to separation and analysis by mass spectrometry is a major emphasis. Porous materials offer high surface area, adjustable pore sizes, and tunable surface chemistry for interacting with glycans, by boronate affinity, hydrophilic interactions, molecular imprinting, and polar interactions. Among the materials covered in this review are mesoporous silica and related materials, porous graphitic carbon, mesoporous carbon, porous polymers, and nanoporous gold. In some applications, glycans are enzymatically or chemically released from glycoproteins or glycopeptides, and the porous materials have the advantage of size selectivity admitting only the glycans into the pores and excluding proteins. Immobilization of lectins onto porous materials of suitable pore size allows for the use of lectin-carbohydrate interactions in capture or separation of glycoproteins. Porous material surfaces modified with carbohydrates can be used for the selective capture of lectins. Controlled release of therapeutics from porous materials mediated by glycans has been reported, and so has therapeutic targeting using carbohydrate-modified porous particles. Additional applications of porous materials in glycoscience include their use in the supported synthesis of oligosaccharides and in the development of biosensors for glycans.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study of Concanavalin A Binding to Self-Assembled Monolayers of Mannosides on Gold Wire Electrodes

The interactions of the lectin Concanavalin A (Con A) with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiolated mono-, di-, and tri-mannosides were studied on the surface of gold wires using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The SAMs of mannosides were prepared either pure or along with thiolated triethylene glycol (TEG) at different molar ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:9, and 1:19) to better understand and optimize the interaction conditions. The charge-transfer resistance of the [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/^4- redox probe was compared before and after the interaction at different concentrations of Con A to determine the equilibrium dissociation constant (K_d) and limit of detection (LOD). Values of K_d were found in the nanomolar range showing multivalent interactions between mannosides and Con A, and LOD was found ranging from 4-13 nM depending on the type of mannoside SAM used. Analysis using the Hill equation suggests negative cooperativity in the binding behavior. Peanut agglutinin was used as a negative control, and cyclic voltammetry was used to further support the experiments. We have found that neither the pure nor the widely dispersed monolayers of mannosides provide the conditions for optimal binding of Con A. The binding of Con A to these SAMs is sensitive to the molar ratio of the mannoside used to prepare the SAM and to the structure of the mannoside. A simple cleaning method has also been shown to regenerate the used gold wire electrodes. The results from these experiments contribute to the development of simple, cheap, selective, and sensitive EIS-based bioassays, especially for lectin-carbohydrate interactions.

Are glycan biosensors an alternative to glycan microarrays?

Complex carbohydrates (glycans) play an important role in nature and study of their interaction with proteins or intact cells can be useful for understanding many physiological and pathological processes. Such interactions have been successfully interrogated in a highly parallel way using glycan microarrays, but this technique has some limitations. Thus, in recent years glycan biosensors in numerous progressive configurations have been developed offering distinct advantages compared to glycan microarrays. Thus, in this review advances achieved in the field of label-free glycan biosensors are discussed.

Lectin-carbohydrate interactions on nanoporous gold monoliths

Monoliths of nanoporous gold (np-Au) were modified with self-assembled monolayers of octadecanethiol (C18-SH), 8-mercaptooctyl α-D-mannopyranoside (αMan-C8-SH), and 8-mercapto-3,6-dioxaoctanol (HO-PEG2-SH), and the loading was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Modification with mixed SAMs containing αMan-C8-SH (at a 0.20 mole fraction in the SAM forming solution) with either octanethiol or HO-PEG2-SH was also investigated. The np-Au monoliths modified with αMan-C8-SH bind the lectin Concanavalin A (Con A), and the additional mass due to bound protein was assessed using TGA analysis. A comparison of TGA traces measured before and after exposure of HO-PEG2-SH modified np-Au to Con A showed that the non-specific binding of Con A was minimal. In contrast, np-Au modified with octanethiol showed a significant mass loss due to non-specifically adsorbed Con A. A significant mass loss was also attributed to binding of Con A to bare np-Au monoliths. TGA revealed a mass loss due to the binding of Con A to np-Au monoliths modified with pure αMan-C8-SH. The use of mass losses determined by TGA to compare the binding of Con A to np-Au monoliths modified by mixed SAMs of αMan-C8-SH and either octanethiol or HO-PEG2-SH revealed that binding to mixed SAM modified surfaces is specific for the mixed SAMs with HO-PEG2-SH but shows a significant contribution from non-specific adsorption for the mixed SAMs with octanethiol. Minimal adsorption of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and peanut agglutinin (PNA) towards the mannoside modified np-Au monoliths was demonstrated. A greater mass loss was found for Con A bound onto the monolith than for either IgG or PNA, signifying that the mannose presenting SAMs in np-Au retain selectivity for Con A. TGA data also provide evidence that Con A bound to the αMan-C8-SH modified np-Au can be eluted by flowing a solution of methyl α-D-mannopyranoside through the structure. The presence of Con A proteins on the modified np-Au surface was also confirmed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results highlight the potential for application of carbohydrate modified np-Au monoliths to glycoscience and glycotechnology and demonstrate that they can be used for capture and release of carbohydrate binding proteins in significant quantities.