In silico designed nanoMIP based optical sensor for endotoxins monitoring

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Endotoxins pose significant health risks, necessitating sensitive detection methods.
• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer a promising approach for creating artificial affinity ligands.
• Developing robust and reusable sensors for endotoxin capture is crucial for risk management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with high affinity for endotoxins using computational modeling.
• To develop a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based optical sensor utilizing these novel MIP nanoparticles for endotoxin detection.
• To evaluate the performance, reusability, and stability of the developed MIP-SPR sensor system.

Main Methods:

• Molecular modeling was employed to select optimal monomers for MIP synthesis.
• MIPs were synthesized via solid-phase photopolymerization using bacterial endotoxins as templates.
• Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) biosensor system was functionalized with MIP nanoparticles for affinity-based detection.

Main Results:

• Synthesized MIP nanoparticles exhibited a particle size of ~190-220 nm with a low polydispersity index.
• The SPR sensor demonstrated an affinity-based endotoxin assay capable of detecting endotoxins in the range of 15.6-500 ng mL(-1).
• The MIP surfaces showed stability upon regeneration, enabling multiple analyses with calculated dissociation constants of 3.24-5.24×10(-8) M.

Conclusions:

• The developed SPR sensor functionalized with endotoxin nanoMIPs shows significant potential for endotoxin capture and detection.
• This technology can contribute to effective endotoxin risk management in various applications.
• Computational modeling is vital for designing artificial affinity ligands like MIPs for specific molecular targets.