Scanning tunnelling microscopy and dynamic contact angle studies of the effects of partial denaturation on

J Davies1, A C Dawkes, A G Haymes

  • 1Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics Ltd. (JJCDL), Pollards Wood Laboratories, Buckinghamshire, UK.

A range of partial denaturation antibody pre-treatments that affect immunoassay performance have been evaluated. Monoclonal anti-ferritin antibody was either partially denatured by heat, urea or pH pre-treatment or left untreated and then passively adsorbed to polystyrene microtiter wells. The adsorption characteristics and functionality of the different surfaces produced have been evaluated by dynamic contact angle (DCA) analysis and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) imaging respectively. The DCA data show that the effect of partial denaturation is to change the wetting characteristics of the antibody surfaces, while, in addition, STM imaging reveals marked effects seen in the aggregation properties of the denatured antibodies.