GWC TECHNOLOGIES INC
Label-free biosensor systems utilizing Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) to detect molecular interactions are an important tool in basic research and drug development. SPR biosensors require a metal-coated surface, and gold is currently the most practical choice because it is relatively stable in aqueous environments. However, gold-coated substrates have many limitations: limited shelf life, restricted or no re-usability, limited electrochemical stability, and sensitivity to oxidizing and corrosive environments. Moreover, gold?s fragility compromises its use in medical point-of-care diagnostics, or field-based agriculture and environmental testing. We propose to develop a high performance substrate for the multiplex analysis of bioaffinity interactions by SPR. The proposed innovation is a commercial carbon-on-metal (CoM) chip product consisting of a thin layer of amorphous carbon deposited over a gold thin film. Unlike gold, the CoM surface is anticipated: (i) to be physically robust, (ii), compatible with the harsh conditions needed for in situ synthesis of DNA, peptide and small molecule arrays, (iii) to have longer shelf life, and (iv) to exhibit superior performance characteristics for protein arrays, including a reduced propensity to denature proteins and lower nonspecific background. The proposed project will also test two strategies for derivatization of the CoM surfaces for fabrication of protein arrays using covalent and affinity probe attachment in order to confirm the practical utility of the surface and demonstrate real-world performance, thereby meeting the goals of the ?Real world sensors and biosensors? topic A5.