Surface plasmon optical studies of carboxymethyl dextran brushes versus networks

Molecular self assembly of mixed comb-like dextran surfactant polymers for SPR virus detection

The synthesis of two comb-like dextran surfactant polymers, that are different in their dextran molecular weight (MW) distribution and the presence of carboxylic groups, and their characterization are reported. A bimodal carboxylic dextran surfactant polymer consists of poly(vinyl amine) (PVAm) backbone with carboxyl higher MW dextran, non-functionalized lower MW dextran and hydrophobic hexyl branches; while a monomodal dextran surfactant polymer is PVAm grafted with non-functionalized lower MW dextran and hexyl branches. Layer formation of non-covalently attached dextran chains with bimodal MW distributions on a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) chip was investigated from the perspective of mixed physisorption of the bimodal and monomodal surfactant polymers. Separation distances between the carboxylic longer dextran side chains within the bimodal surfactant polymer and between the whole bimodal surfactant molecules on the chip surface could be well-controlled. SPR analysis of shrimp yellow head virus using our mixed surfactant chips showed dependence on synergetic adjustment of these separation distances.

Thin hydrogel films for optical biosensor applications

Hydrogel materials consisting of water-swollen polymer networks exhibit a large number of specific properties highly attractive for a variety of optical biosensor applications. This properties profile embraces the aqueous swelling medium as the basis of biocompatibility, non-fouling behavior, and being not cell toxic, while providing high optical quality and transparency. The present review focuses on some of the most interesting aspects of surface-attached hydrogel films as active binding matrices in optical biosensors based on surface plasmon resonance and optical waveguide mode spectroscopy. In particular, the chemical nature, specific properties, and applications of such hydrogel surface architectures for highly sensitive affinity biosensors based on evanescent wave optics are discussed. The specific class of responsive hydrogel systems, which can change their physical state in response to externally applied stimuli, have found large interest as sophisticated materials that provide a complex behavior to hydrogel-based sensing devices.

The role of mass transport limitation and surface heterogeneity in the biophysical characterization of macromolecular binding processes by SPR biosensing

This chapter presents an introduction to the kinetic analysis of SPR biosensor data for the determination of affinity and kinetic rate constants of biomolecular interactions between an immobilized and a soluble binding partner. The need to be aware of and critically test the assumptions underlying the analysis models is emphasized and the consequences for the experimental design are discussed. The two most common sources of deviation in SPR surface binding kinetics from the ideal pseudo-first-order binding kinetics of bimolecular reactions are mass transport limitations and the heterogeneity of the surface sites. These problems are intrinsic to the use of a biosensor surface for characterizing interactions. The effect of these factors on the observed binding kinetics, and strategies to account for them are reviewed, both in the context of mathematical data analysis, as well as the design of the experiments and controls.

Biosensors based on surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy

The implementation of surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS) to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors enables increasing their sensitivity by several orders of magnitude. In SPR-based biosensors, surface plasmons probe the binding of target molecules contained in a liquid sample by their affinity partners attached to a metallic sensor surface. SPR biosensors relying on the detection of refractive index changes allow for direct observation of the binding of large and medium size molecules that produces sufficiently large refractive index changes. In SPR biosensors exploiting SPFS, the capture of fluorophore-labeled molecules to the sensor surface is observed by the detection of fluorescence light emitted from the surface. This technique takes advantage of the enhanced intensity of electromagnetic field accompanied with the resonant excitation of surface plasmons. The interaction with surface plasmons can greatly increase the measured fluorescence signal through enhancing the excitation rate of fluorophores and by more efficient collecting of fluorescence light. SPFS-based biosensors were shown to enable the analysis of samples with extremely low analyte concentrations and the detection of small molecules. In this review, we describe the fundamental principles, implementations, and current state of the art applications of SPFS biosensors. This review focuses on SPFS-based biosensors employing the excitation of surface plasmons on continuous metal-dielectric interfaces.

High density scaffolding of functional polymer brushes: surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization of active esters

In this Article, we describe a method for the polymerization of active esters based on N-hydroxysuccinimide 4-vinyl benzoate (NHS4VB) using surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Poly(NHS4VB) brushes have high grafting density and a uniform and smooth morphology, and film thickness increases linearly with reaction time. Block copolymer brushes with 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, tert-butyl acrylate, and styrene were synthesized from surface bound poly(NHS4VB) macroinitiators. The active ester brushes show rapid and quantitative conversion under aminolysis conditions with primary amines, which was studied using grazing incidence attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (GATR-FTIR) and UV-vis spectroscopy. UV-vis was also used to quantify the amount of reactive groups in polymer brush layers of differing thickness. Functionalization of the active ester pendant groups with chromophores containing primary amines showed a linear correlation between the amount of chromophore incorporated into the brush layer and brush thickness. Grafting densities as high as 25.7 nmol/cm(2) were observed for a 50 nm brush. Block copolymer brushes with buried active ester functional moieties also undergo quantitative conversion with primary amines as confirmed by GATR-FTIR. We discuss the potential of activated ester brushes as universal scaffolds for sensor and microarray surfaces, where the twofold control of functionalizable active ester polymer and block copolymers provides well-ordered, tunable microenvironments.

Effects of antibody affinity and antigen valence on molecular forms of immune complexes

The effect of antibody affinity on molecular forms of immune complexes was investigated by measuring antigen-antibody interactions using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry under non-denaturing conditions (MS), analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). (4-Hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetic acid (NP) of different valences was conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and these conjugates were used as antigens. In the interaction between N1G9, a low affinity antibody, and NP(7)-BSA, a 1:1 immune complex was detected as the major product and higher molecular weight complexes were not obtained by any of the methods employed. These results suggested that N1G9 predominantly formed an intramolecular divalent complex with NP(7)-BSA using the two Fab arms of an antibody. Although complexes of various sizes were detected by MS, AUC, and TEM in the interaction between C6, a high affinity antibody, and NP(7)-BSA, only 1:1 immune complexes were observed by SPR. These results showed that two NP(7)-BSA molecules cannot simultaneously bind to an antibody, irrespective of antibody affinity strength, when the Fc region is immobilized to a flexible dextran matrix on sensor chip but are able to do so with high affinity antibodies free in solution. The results also showed that the stoichiometry of the antigen-antibody interaction is altered by restricting the movement of the Fc region. Since immunoglobulins exist as antibodies in solution or as B cell receptors on the cell surface, it is suggested that interactions of B cell receptors with polyvalent antigens such as NP-BSA might be different from those of antibodies free in solution.

Probing the functional heterogeneity of surface binding sites by analysis of experimental binding traces and the effect of mass transport limitation

Many techniques rely on the binding activity of surface-immobilized proteins, including antibody-based affinity biosensors for the detection of analytes, immunoassays, protein arrays, and surface plasmon resonance biosensors for the study of thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of protein interactions. To study the functional homogeneity of the surface sites and to characterize their binding properties, we have recently proposed a computational tool to determine the distribution of affinity and kinetic rate constants from surface binding progress curves. It is based on modeling the experimentally measured binding signal as a superposition of signals from binding to sites spanning a range of rate and equilibrium constants, with regularization providing the most parsimonious distribution consistent with the data. In the present work, we have expanded the scope of this approach to include a compartment-like transport step, which can describe competitive binding to different surface sites in a zone of depleted analyte close to the sensor surface. This approach addresses a major difficulty in the analysis of surface binding where both transport limitation as well as unknown surface site heterogeneity may be present. In addition to the kinetic binding parameters of the ensemble of surface sites, it can provide estimates for effective transport rate constants. Using antibody-antigen interactions as experimental model systems, we studied the effects of the immobilization matrix and of the analyte flow-rate on the effective transport rate constant. Both were experimentally observed to influence mass transport. The approximate description of mass transport by a compartment model becomes critical when applied to strongly transport-controlled data, and we examined the limitations of this model. In the presence of only moderate mass transport limitation the compartment model provides a good description, but this approximation breaks down for strongly transport-limited surface binding. In the latter regime, we report experimental evidence for the formation of gradients within the sensing volume of the evanescent field biosensor used.

Recent advances in surface plasmon resonance based techniques for bioanalysis

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a powerful and versatile spectroscopic method for biomolecular interaction analysis (BIA) and has been well reviewed in previous years. This updated 2006 review of SPR, SPR spectroscopy, and SPR imaging explores cutting-edge technology with a focus on material, method, and instrument development. A number of recent SPR developments and interesting applications for bioanalysis are provided. Three focus topics are discussed in more detail to exemplify recent progress. They include surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy, nanoscale glassification of SPR substrates, and enzymatic amplification in SPR imaging. Through these examples it is clear to us that the development of SPR-based methods continues to grow, while the applications continue to diversify. Major trends appear to be present in the development of combined techniques, use of new materials, and development of new methodologies. Together, these works constitute a major thrust that could eventually make SPR a common tool for surface interaction analysis and biosensing. The future outlook for SPR and SPR-associated BIA studies, in our opinion, is very bright. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a powerful and versatile spectroscopic method for biomolecular interaction analysis (BIA) and has been well reviewed in previous years. This updated 2006 review of SPR, SPR spectroscopy, and SPR imaging explores cutting-edge technology with a focus on material, method, and instrument development. A number of recent SPR developments and interesting applications for bioanalysis are provided. Three focus topics are discussed in more detail to exemplify recent progress. They include surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy, nanoscale glassification of SPR substrates, and enzymatic amplification in SPR imaging. Through these examples it is clear to us that the development of SPR-based methods continues to grow, while the applications continue to diversify. Major trends appear to be present in the development of combined techniques, use of new materials, and development of new methodologies. Together, these works constitute a major thrust that could eventually make SPR a common tool for surface interaction analysis and biosensing. The future outlook for SPR and SPR-associated BIA studies, in our opinion, is very bright.