Microplate based LSPR biosensors

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Interactions between biomolecules underlie all biochemical processes and so are central to therapeutics and biotechnology. Understanding the strengths of these interactions is thus fundamental to the development of new technologies. Label-free techniques such as local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) are the gold standard for measuring these important interactions, but access to LSPR instrumentation is limited due to expensive, specialized optical equipment. Current commercial sensors are also limited by non-specific interactions, and can't be easily used in complex environments such as blood, which further hinders utility. To overcome these two main limitations of this important technique, we have developed a new type of sensor for use in a plate reader, which is a common piece of laboratory equipment, and which uses a scalable technique to produce a coating that reduces the non-specific interactions. So far, this new and accessible LSPR platform has garnered attention from both industry leading plate reader manufacturers and therapeutic development companies. This proposal includes a work plan that will translate our proof-of-concept sensors into an automated fluid handling platform which is compatible with common plate readers and expand the chemistry of the coatings to allow the sensors to be used with a broader range of analytical targets relevant to therapeutic development. By the end of this I2I project period, we aim to develop a working platform that can be used by therapeutic developers and licensed with a manufacturing partner.