Synthesis of polymerized thin films for immobilized ligand display in proteomic analysis

We describe a new material for the display of biomolecular ligands for use in proteomic analysis. We report here on the construction of the first functionalized polymerized diacetylene thin films (PDTFs) for use in displaying immobilized ligands and their application in mass spectral proteomic analysis. Functionalized polymerized thin film surfaces were constructed with diacetylene-containing biotin lipid monomers designed for the capture of proteins (streptavidin) from a complex cellular lysate and detection with mass spectrometry (MS). These materials serve as a prototype for ligand-based spotted arrays amenable to high throughput screening. Functionalized PDTFs can be easily manufactured for customized microarrays and demonstrate high protein specificity and low nonspecific protein adsorption, and the resulting microarrays constructed from these materials are compatible with several different protein analysis platforms. Our results suggest that these materials have broad potential applications for use in mass spectral-based proteomic analysis.