The application of neoglycopeptides in the development of sensitive surface plasmon resonance-based biosensors

The development of a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance is described for the detection of carbohydrate-binding proteins in solution on a Biacore 2000 instrument, using immobilized glycopeptides as ligands. Their selection was based on previous screenings of solid-phase glycopeptide libraries with Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA(120)) and human adhesion/growth-regulatory galectin-1 (h-Gal-1). Glycopeptides were immobilized on Au sensor chips functionalized with mixed self-assembled monolayers of different ratios of 11-mercapto-1-undecanol and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, and of 3-mercapto-1-propanol and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid. The biosensors were optimized for the detection of RCA(120), and a detection limit of 0.13 nM was obtained. Subsequent experiments with h-Gal-1 indicated a detection limit of at least 0.9 nM for this lectin. Additionally, the effect of interfering proteins on the sensitivity of the optimized biosensor was investigated.