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Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Biorecognition: Evaluation of Surface Coverage and Activity
journal contribution
posted on 2006-02-02, 00:00 authored by Isaac Koh, Xiang Wang, Bindhu Varughese, Lyle Isaacs, Sheryl H. Ehrman, Douglas S. EnglishModifying the surfaces of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) by the covalent attachment of biomolecules will
enable their implementation as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging or as media for magnetically
assisted bioseparations. In this paper we report both the surface coverage and the activity of IgG antibodies
on MNPs. The antibodies were immobilized on γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles by conventional methods using
aminopropyltriethoxy silane and subsequent activation by glutaraldehyde. Novel fluorescence methods were
used to provide a quantitative evaluation of this well-known approach. Our results show that surface coverage
can be stoichiometrically adjusted with saturated surface coverage occurring at ∼36% of the theoretical limit.
The saturated surface coverage corresponds to 34 antibody molecules bound to an average-sized MNP (32
nm diameter). We also show that the immobilized antibodies retain ∼50% of their binding capacity at surface-saturated levels.