Nanoscale Confinement of Antibodies towards biosensor interfaces with enhanced sensitivity

Keywords:
nanopartterning, biosensor, antibody

Abstract:
We present our latest results on nanopatterning of antibodies. In earlier work we had found that antibody immobilization onto functional nanopatches created in a protein-resistant matrix leads to an increase of antibody (Ab) activity. In contrast, however, when the matrix is not protein-resistant, no improvement in Ab activity had been observed. Our results suggested a better orientation and denser Ab packing on the protein-resistant patterns. Now we achieved direct experimental evidence for confinement and improved orientation of antibodies when immobilized on nanopatches embedded in a PEG matrix by atomic force microscopy. The images clearly show that the Ab/Ag complexes are confined to the functional nanopatches and that the total feature heights correspond to the Ab/Ag sandwich.

Nanotech 2008 Conference Program Abstract