Selective glycoprotein detection through covalent templating and allosteric click-imprinting

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Glycoproteins play crucial roles in human diseases, including cancer.
• Detecting specific glycoproteins is challenging for analytical methods and diagnostics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel method for fabricating glycoprotein-selective surfaces.
• To overcome limitations of current antibody-based detection methods.

Main Methods:

• A hierarchical bottom-up fabrication route was employed.
• Reversible covalent interactions with boronic acids and click chemistry were utilized.
• Self-assembled and imprinted surfaces with molecular recognition nanocavities were created.

Main Results:

• The fabricated surfaces demonstrated high binding affinities and nanomolar sensitivity for glycoproteins.
• Exceptional specificity and selectivity were achieved, with up to 30-fold selectivity for prostate specific antigen (PSA) over other glycoproteins.
• The platform functions effectively in complex biological media and is recyclable without performance loss.

Conclusions:

• The developed synthetic platform offers a robust and highly selective approach for glycoprotein recognition.
• This method provides a promising alternative to antibody-based detection for disease biomarker analysis.
• The platform's versatility and reusability enhance its potential for diagnostic applications.