Detection of antigens in biologically complex fluids with photografted whole antibodies

A highly sensitive (pM), efficient (t < 20 min) detection assay was developed by designing surfaces with grafted antibodies. Through this approach, a short half-life antigen, glucagon, was rapidly detected in a biologically complex plasma/blood environment. Tailoring of graft composition eliminates the need for time-consuming blocking steps, significantly reducing antigen-antibody incubation times, while maintaining antibody specificity and activity toward target antigen. Grafted antibodies were bound through solvated, mobile polymer chains, thereby circumventing problems associated with antibody accessibility, analyte diffusion, and steric limitations. The efficiency of this assay is provided through grafting synthesized, acrylated antibodies in the presence of PEG monoacrylate. This procedure eliminates the need for blocking steps, due to a decrease in nonspecific protein interactions. These polymerizable antibodies were tethered with a range of densities while retaining biological activity. Moreover, biological activity of acrylated antibodies was compared to that of unmodified antibodies and remained comparable. The acrylated antibodies were grafted from substrate surfaces using controlled radical photopolymerization, maintaining the advantages of classical antibody immobilization techniques while providing improved detection. Through integrating this antibody conjugation chemistry and immunoassay approach with photolithographic techniques, construction of spatial patterns on a microfluidic device was demonstrated for efficient, parallel screening of multiple antigens.