Ultra-thin Film Assembly of a Novel Biomaterial Containing Protein and Functionalized Polymer for Sensor Application

A novel biomaterial capable of incorporating biotinylated biomolecule has been synthesized. Our strategy is to biotinylate one-dimensional electroactive polymers and use a bridging streptavidin protein on Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) organized films. These copolymers are derivatized with long alkyl chains and biotin moieties to bind, respectively, to the hydrophobic surface and the biotinylated species, through the biotin and streptavidin complexation. We utilize the polymer assembly approach to attach a signal transducing biomolecule biotinylated phycoerythrin (B-PE) into this novel biomaterial by binding the unoccupied biotin binding sites on the bound streptavidin (4 sites total). The pressure-area isotherm of the protein injected monolayer showed area expansion. A characteristic fluorescent emission peak at 576nm was detected from the monolayer transferred onto a solid substrate. These observations demonstrated the promise of the organized thin polymer assemblies for their application to the sensor system.