QCM-based sensing using biological and biomimetic interfaces

Sammanfattning: The objective of this thesis was to explore novel approaches for studying molecular recognition at biological and biomimetic surfaces using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor technique. The first two papers focused on the synthesis and study of biotin selective polymer films prepared using the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) technique. Control over polymer structure is of importance for sensor reproducibility and sensitivity, and was addressed in Paper I where a simple strategy for fabricating uniform thin biotin imprinted polymer films was employed. In Paper II the binding of biotin moieties to thin (3-5 nm) biomimetic polymer films was examined and consequences for sensor performance discussed. The potential for using QCM as a tool for assessing the binding of small peptides derived from phage display screening was presented Paper III. Here, screening of a phage peptide library against immobilized adenine resulted in candidate peptides that were studied using this technique. In Paper IV a whole cell-based biosensor was developed for studying interactions with cell membrane-incorporated targets. Epithelial cancer cells, SKOV3, were attached to QCM sensor chips and the binding of the monoclonal antibody HerceptinTM was studied. This approach demonstrates the potential of using QCM to study binding to membrane-incorporated targets, an alternative to assays based upon immobilized receptor structures lacking their natural context.