Most solid-state biosensor platforms require a specific immobilization chemistry and a bioconjugation strategy separately to tether sensory molecules to a substrate and attach specific receptors to the sensory unit, respectively. We developed a mussel-inspired universal conjugation method that enables both surface immobilization and bioconjugation at the same time. By incorporating dopamine or catechol moiety into self-signaling polydiacetylene (PDA) liposomes, we demonstrated efficient immobilization of the PDA liposomes to a wide range of substrates, without any substrate modification. Moreover, receptor molecules having a specificity toward a target molecule can also be attached to the immobilized PDA liposome layer without any chemical modification. We applied our mussel-inspired conjugation method to a droplet-array biosensor by exploiting the hydrophilic nature of PDA liposomes coated on a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene surface and demonstrated selective and sensitive detection of vascular endothelial growth factor down to 10 nM.
Keywords: dopamine; droplet-array biosensor; mussel-inspired chemistry; polydiacetylene liposome; vascular endothelial growth factor detection.