Capacitive immunosensor for the detection of host cell proteins

A new analysis for monitoring host cell proteins in preparations of transgenically produced protein pharmaceuticals is described. A capacitive biosensor with a very high sensitivity is used to monitor trace amounts of host cell proteins. The sensor consists of a gold electrode, the surface of which is well insulated and on which a preparation of a population of polyclonal antibodies raised against the complete protein set-up of the host cell are immobilized. Host cell proteins are present at very low concentrations during the production of a transgenic protein. The system studied here is a model system with an enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Due to the high sensitivity, it may even be possible to dilute the samples to be analyzed, thereby reducing a negative influence from non-specific binding to the sensor surface.