Employing defined bioconjugates to generate chemically functionalised gold nanoparticles for in vitro diagnostic applications

Nanoscale. 2021 Jul 15;13(27):11921-11931. doi: 10.1039/d1nr02584h.

Abstract

Novel methods for introducing chemical and biological functionality to the surface of gold nanoparticles serve to increase the utility of this class of nanomaterials across a range of applications. To date, methods for functionalising gold surfaces have relied upon uncontrollable non-specific adsorption, bespoke chemical linkers, or non-generalisable protein-protein interactions. Herein we report a versatile method for introducing functionality to gold nanoparticles by exploiting the strong interaction between chemically functionalised bovine serum albumin (f-BSA) and citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). We establish the generalisability of the method by introducing a variety of functionalities to gold nanoparticles using cheap, commercially available chemical linkers. The utility of this approach is further demonstrated through the conjugation of the monoclonal antibody Ontruzant to f-BSA-AuNPs using inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder (iEDDA) click chemistry, a hitherto unexplored chemistry for AuNP-IgG conjugation. Finally, we show that the AuNP-Ontruzant particles generated via f-BSA-AuNPs have a greater affinity for their target in a lateral flow format when compared to conventional physisorption, highlighting the potential of this technology for producing sensitive diagnostic tests.

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Citric Acid
  • Gold*
  • Metal Nanoparticles*
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine

Substances

  • Serum Albumin, Bovine
  • Citric Acid
  • Gold