Tunable control of antibody immobilization using electric field

The controlled immobilization of proteins on solid-state surfaces can play an important role in enhancing the sensitivity of both affinity-based biosensors and probe-free sensing platforms. Typical methods of controlling the orientation of probe proteins on a sensor surface involve surface chemistry-based techniques. Here, we present a method of tunably controlling the immobilization of proteins on a solid-state surface using electric field. We study the ability to orient molecules by immobilizing IgG molecules in microchannels while applying lateral fields. We use atomic force microscopy to both qualitatively and quantitatively study the orientation of antibodies on glass surfaces. We apply this ability for controlled orientation to enhance the performance of affinity-based assays. As a proof of concept, we use fluorescence detection to indirectly verify the modulation of the orientation of proteins bound to the surface. We studied the interaction of fluorescently tagged anti-IgG with surface immobilized IgG controlled by electric field. Our study demonstrates that the use of electric field can result in more than 100% enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio compared with normal physical adsorption. Significance We introduce a novel method for controlling orientation of proteins during immobilization on solid-state surfaces using electric fields. Atomic force microscopy measurements and fluorescence-based readout are used to confirm this phenomenon. This method of immobilization has broad implications for improvement in performance of both affinity-based protein assays and probe-free detection assays.