Tunable GUMBOS-based sensor array for label-free detection and discrimination of proteins

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Proteins are crucial in biological processes, necessitating accurate detection methods.
• Fluorometric sensors and arrays offer facile and inexpensive protein analysis.
• Label-free sensing is desirable for simplified protein detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel sensor array for sensitive and label-free protein detection.
• To evaluate the sensor array's performance for discriminating proteins and their mixtures.
• To establish a robust method for protein concentration analysis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a sensor array based on novel 6-(p-toluidino)-2-naphthalenesulfonate (TNS)-based organic salts.
• Employed three proteins (HSA, α-antitrypsin, β-lactoglobulin) and binary mixtures for evaluation.
• Applied principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Generated distinct fingerprint sensor-response patterns for different proteins and concentrations.
• Demonstrated excellent correlation between PCA clustering and protein concentrations.
• Achieved 100% identification accuracy in discriminating protein concentrations and mixtures.

Conclusions:

• The TNS-based sensor array is a promising tool for sensitive, label-free protein detection.
• The developed strategy enables accurate discrimination of absolute and relative protein concentrations.
• This approach offers a highly accurate method for analyzing protein mixtures.