sepharose and stearic-acid

Specific biorecognition is essential for many biological processes, for which highly sensitive and label-free biosensors are strongly demanded. The recently developed metamaterials are a potential choice for biosensing due to their exotic properties. In the current work, a label-free and specific sensor for streptavidin-agarose (SA) was fabricated based on terahertz metamaterial functionlized by octadecanthiols and biotins. Both low and high frequency resonant modes from the metamaterials are found applicable for the detection of SA, and a redshift up to 6.76 GHz for the high frequency mode was measured in the undiluted commercial solution. The low frequency mode is attributed to inductor-capacitor (LC) oscillation, while the high frequency mode originates from the plasmonic dipole oscillator, both of which are highly sensitive to the micro-environment change. Adsorption of SA of different concentrations causes different redshifts, and the replacement of high refractive-index substrate with low refractive-index substrate can efficiently promote the sensitivity, well agreeing with the numerical simulation. Moreover, for a particular biomolecule, the sensitivity can be further improved by optimizing the metamaterial design. This method might be very helpful for desirable biorecognition in biology, medicine, and drug industry.

Topics: Alkanes; Bacterial Proteins; Biosensing Techniques; Biotin; Refractometry; Sepharose; Stearic Acids; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Surface Plasmon Resonance; Terahertz Radiation

Magnetite nanocuboids have been synthesized via gel-diffusion technique in agarose gel. Here, the agarose gel matrix has been used as an organic template for formation and growth modification of magnetite. Gel mineralization mimics the membrane-based biomineralization, controls the diffusion process and gives the micro/nano environment for the crystal growth. We also attempt to understand the influence of different surface modifications of synthesized magnetite nanocuboids on protein interaction. For this purpose, magnetite particles were coated with trimesic acid (benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid) and stearic acid, which generates a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic modified surface, respectively. We report controlled adsorption behavior of bovine serum albumin (BSA) by surface modification of magnetite nanocuboids with different functional groups. The adsorption capacity of BSA increases on trimesic acid-coated surfaces compared to bare magnetite surfaces, while it decreases on stearic acid-coated surfaces. In situ fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to analyze the tertiary protein structure in the adsorbed state on these three surfaces. Partial unfolding in the tertiary structure of BSA was observed upon adsorption onto bare magnetite surfaces. On trimesic acid-coated surfaces, tertiary unfolding of BSA was greater than on bare magnetite surfaces, while BSA undergoes minor tertiary structural change on stearic acid-coated surfaces.

Topics: Adsorption; Animals; Cattle; Ferrosoferric Oxide; Gels; Nanotechnology; Sepharose; Serum Albumin, Bovine; Stearic Acids; Surface Properties; Tricarboxylic Acids