Fibre-Optic Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for Monoclonal Antibody Titer Quantification

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Monitoring monoclonal antibody (mAb) concentrations is crucial for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing.
• Existing biosensing platforms often lack portability and sufficient sensitivity for real-time process monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a portable and highly sensitive fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing platform.
• To apply the developed biosensor for the real-time monitoring of monoclonal antibody (mAb) concentrations.

Main Methods:

• Refinement of fabrication procedures and materials for optical fiber components and flow cells.
• Implementation of template cleaning and precise fabrication control.
• Immobilization of protein A onto a gold film for Mab capture.

Main Results:

• Achieved a consistent sensitivity of 509 ± 5 nm/RIU.
• Demonstrated a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.44 µg/mL for Mabs.
• The biosensor showed robust performance, with regeneration capability for at least 10 cycles.

Conclusions:

• The engineered fiber-optic SPR biosensor is a portable, sensitive, and robust tool for rapid mAb titer quantification.
• The biosensor is suitable for real-time, on-line monitoring in bioprocess development and manufacturing.
• A simplified immobilization procedure without a spacer arm is effective for protein A-based biosensors.