Label-Free, Electrical Biomarker Detection Based on Nanowire Biosensors Utilizing Antibody Mimics as Capture Probes

Abstract

ABSTRACTAntibody mimic proteins (AMPs) are poly-peptides that bind to their target analytes with high affinity and specificity, just like conventional antibodies, but are much smaller in size (2-5 nm, less than 10kDa). In this report, we describe the first application of AMP in the field of nanobiosensors. In2O3 nanowire based biosensors have been configured with an AMP (Fibronectin, Fn) to detect nucleocapsid (N) protein, a biomarker for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Using these devices, N protein was detected at sub-nanomolar concentration in the presence of 44 μM bovine serum albumin as a background. Furthermore, negative control experiment is carried out to confirm the role of AMPs in N protein detection.