Multichannel Surface Plasmon Resonance for Quantitative Biomolecular Kinetics

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the development of a new instrument for measurement of real-time quantitative kinetics of biomolecular binding through use of all-optical surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based methods. Existing SPR-based instrumentation is commonly used to study interactions of polymers and other molecules, including small ligands and proteins. The proposed instrument will employ a multi-channel biosensor array format, and use multi-wavelength excitation and angular scanning capabilities to optimize sensitivity and time response. Novel SPR methods, developed previously in the PI's laboratory, are expected to provide far greater sensitivity and improved coverage for unlabeled biomolecules in comparison to existing SPR instruments. Software to be developed for data analysis will incorporate detailed modeling of association and dissociation kinetics using self-consistent global analysis methods for multiple measurements and new kinetic models also developed in the PI's laboratory. The instrument to be developed provides simultaneous monitoring of binding kinetics for 16 different channels (4 independent flow cells) with a time response expected to be in the range of 1 millisecond. Judicious choice of excitation and detection frequencies will take full advantage of the optical characteristics of the particular ligands under study; this is expected to provide an additional 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than current SPR-based biosensors