A supramolecular bioactive surface for specific binding of protein

Abstract Bioactive surfaces with immobilized bioactive molecules aimed specifically at promoting or supporting particular interactions are of great interest for application of biosensors and biological detection. In this work, we fabricated a supramolecular bioactive surface with specific protein binding capability using two noncovalent interactions as the driving forces. The substrates were first layer-by-layer (LbL) deposited with a multilayered polyelectrolyte film containing “guest” adamantane groups via electrostatic interactions, followed by incorporation of “host” β-cyclodextrin derivatives bearing seven biotin units (CD-B) into the films via host-guest interactions. The results of fluorescence microscopy and quartz crystal microbalance measurement demonstrated that these surfaces exhibited high binding capacity and high selectivity for avidin due to the high density of biotin residues. Moreover, since host-guest interactions are inherently reversible, the avidin-CD-B complex is easily released by treatment with the sodium dodecyl sulfate, and the “regenerated” surfaces, after re-introducing fresh CD-B, can be used repeatedly for avidin binding. Given the generality and versatility of this approach, it may pave a way for development of re-usable biosensors for the detection and measurement of specific proteins.