Characterization of Nanoparticle-Linked Biomolecule Assemblies for Advanced Bioelectronic Detection

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Joseph Wang of Arizona State University is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program for the design of detectors of biomaterials with a focus on the detection of proteins. The group is applying different metal-sulfides for coding different proteins and analyzing simultaneously different antigens by the respective coded antibodies. This idea is being extended by combining magnetic beads/protein-protein complexes/metal labels as supramoleuclar structures that are magnetically collected on the electrode, and the collected metal conjugates are electrochemically analyzed. A further topic is the detection of single base polymorphism by the labeling of individual nucleotides with nanoparticle labels. Another topic includes the application of DNA barcodes for the amplified electrochemical detection of protein-protein interactions. The last topic in the program involves the construction of carbon nanotubes/enzymes layers on electrodes to increase the enzyme content on the electrodes, and electrically contact the proteins. Detection of biomaterials (proteins, peptides, nucleic acids) is of steadily growing interest, e.g. in the diagnostic of disease markers (tumor markers, viral antigens, therapy control) or the control of food safety, environmental pollutions or biohazards. Much effort is thus required to develop reliable, simple, fast and efficient tests to detect as low amounts as possible. Detecting trace amounts of proteins using straight-forward methodologies (e.g. electrochemically) is becoming increasingly important.