Biotechnology-Nanotechnology Hybrid Materials for Diagnostic Devices in Health and Agriculture

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Immunosorbent "sandwich" assays (including ELISA) that rely on fluorescence detection have become a key technology in medical testing, drug discovery, biotechnology and cellular imaging. The high selectivity of antibody binding, combined with the high sensitivity that is enabled by fluorescence spectroscopy, has led to huge advances inthe diagnostic testing of a variety of human, animal and plant diseases. Typically, these immunosorbent assays employ an immobilised antibody to capture the target biomarker from the biological sample, followed by the immobilisation of a second antibody bearing a fluorescent label.To maximise the fluorescence output from the label, many researchers have started to harness metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF), as a means to improve assays ensitivity. Here, the co-location of a metallic nanoparticle in the vicinity of the antibody results in a large plasmonic enhancement of fluorescence output (in the order of 100-fold). Indeed, the arrival of MEF assay technology in the industrial and diagnostic application context is imminent.This project aims at improving the sensitivity of these MEF-based assay systems, by the application of state-of-the-art bioconjugate chemistry to control the orientation of the immobilised antibodies with respect to the nanoparticle. It is expected that such uniform antibody orientation, with all binding domains pointing "outwards" (away from the nanoparticle) would both improve their binding capacity against very low levels of analyte, as well as maximise MEF by ensuring the optimum distance between fluorophore and nanoparticle.This project will focus on the development of expertise in assay technology , synthetic chemistry, spectroscopy and nanotechnology - underpinning skills that are critical for the biotechnology sector. The project is part-funded by Aeirtec Ltd., a diagnostics development company, and the researcher will spend time on a placement at Aeirtec's laboratories.