Novel Polymer-Protein Substrates for Immunofluorescent Assays
Investigators: Melisenda McDonald, Chemistry; Joey Mead, Plastics Engineering
Immunological assay (IA) testing is currently the industry standard for screening, detecting and monitoring of disease states and also is a critical tool in drug discovery. IA frequently suffers, however, from loss of sensitivity caused by the inability of the assay plates to correctly orient and bind the antibodies. This cross-disciplinary research team has developed a unique IA system employing a combination of polymer substrate and bio-linker protein that yields greater than a four-fold increase in sensitivity over traditional assays (permits significantly lower concentrations of biomarkers to be detected). Additionally, the advantage of this polymer-protein synergistic system is its capability of noncovalently aligning greater than 70% of capture antibodies while retaining their biological function, making it an ideal application for use in small-volume, miniaturized assays and biosensors