Flow-through immunosensors using antibody-immobilized polymer monoliths

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Development of sensitive and rapid detection methods is crucial for diagnostics.
• Existing immunosensor platforms often face limitations in speed and sensitivity.
• Surface-reactive polymer monoliths offer a novel approach for biosensor fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate high-sensitivity and rapid flow-through immunosensors using photopolymerized surface-reactive polymer monoliths.
• To demonstrate the efficacy of these monoliths in a direct immunoassay model.
• To assess the performance of the developed immunosensors in terms of linearity, assay time, and detection limits.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of porous polymer monoliths within silica capillaries using glycidyl methacrylate and ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate.
• Immobilization of antibodies (anti-IgG) onto the high surface area monoliths.
• Direct immunoassay using fluorescein-labeled IgG as the antigen, with measurements in a flow-through configuration.

Main Results:

• Monoliths exhibited a tortuous pore structure facilitating efficient mass transport and antibody immobilization.
• Direct immunoassay showed a linear response for antigen detection from 0.1 to 50 ng/mL within 5 minutes.
• A mass detection limit of 100 pg (approximately 700 amol) was achieved with controllable micro-volume injections.

Conclusions:

• Porous polymer monolith supports are a flexible and promising material for fabricating rapid and sensitive immunosensors.
• The developed immunosensor design is suitable for integration into capillary or microfluidic devices.
• This approach offers significant potential for advancing high-performance biosensing applications.