A sulfhydryl-reactive ruthenium (II) complex and its conjugation to protein G as a universal reagent for fluorescent immunoassays

PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e36086. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036086. Epub 2012 Apr 26.

Abstract

To develop a fluorescent ruthenium complex for biosensing, we synthesized a novel sulfhydryl-reactive compound, 4-bromophenanthroline bis-2,2'-dipyridine Ruthenium bis (hexafluorophosphate). The synthesized Ru(II) complex was crosslinked with thiol-modified protein G to form a universal reagent for fluorescent immunoassays. The resulting Ru(II)-protein G conjugates were identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The emission peak wavelength of the Ru(II)-protein G conjugate was 602 nm at the excitation of 452 nm which is similar to the spectra of the Ru(II) complex, indicating that Ru(II)-protein G conjugates still remain the same fluorescence after conjugation. To test the usefulness of the conjugate for biosensing, immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding assay was conducted. The result showed that Ru(II)-protein G conjugates were capable of binding IgG and the more cross-linkers to modify protein G, the higher conjugation efficiency. To demonstrate the feasibility of Ru(II)-protein G conjugates for fluorescent immunoassays, the detection of recombinant histidine-tagged protein using the conjugates and anti-histidine antibody was developed. The results showed that the histidine-tagged protein was successfully detected with dose-response, indicating that Ru(II)-protein G conjugate is a useful universal fluorescent reagent for quantitative immunoassays.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies / immunology
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Coordination Complexes / chemical synthesis
  • Coordination Complexes / chemistry*
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Histidine / immunology
  • Immunoassay*
  • Immunoglobulin G / metabolism
  • Oligopeptides / immunology
  • Protein Binding
  • Ruthenium / chemistry*
  • Succinimides / chemistry
  • Sulfhydryl Compounds / chemistry*
  • Sulfides / chemistry

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Coordination Complexes
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • His-His-His-His-His-His
  • IgG Fc-binding protein, Streptococcus
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Oligopeptides
  • Succinimides
  • Sulfhydryl Compounds
  • Sulfides
  • Histidine
  • N-hydroxysuccinimide S-acetylthioacetate
  • Ruthenium