Detection of Antigens Using a Protein-DNA Chimera Developed by Enzymatic Covalent Bonding with phiX Gene A

• The chemical reactions used to make antibody DNA conjugates in many immunoassays diminish antigen-binding activity and yield heterogeneous products. Here, we address these issues by developing an antibody-based rolling circle amplification (RCA) strategy using a fusion of phi X174 gene A* protein and Z(mab2s) (A*-Zmab). The phi X174 gene A* protein is an enzyme that can covalently link with DNA, while the Z(mab2s) protein moiety can bind to specific species of antibodies. The DNA in an A*-Zmab conjugate was attached to the A* protein at a site chosen to not interfere with protein function, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and gel mobility shift analysis. The novel A*-Zmab-DNA conjugate retained its binding capabilities to a specific class of murine immunoglobulin gamma 1 (IgG1) but not to rabbit IgG. This indicates the generality of the A*-Zmab-based immuno-RCA assay that can be used in-sandwich ELISA format. Moreover, the enzymatic covalent method dramatically increased the yields of A*-Zmab-DNA conjugates up to 80% after a 15 min reaction. Finally, sensitive detection of human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was achieved by immuno-RCA using our fusion protein in sandwich ELISA format. This new approach of the use of site-specific enzymatic DNA conjugation to proteins should be applicable to fabrication of novel immunoassays for biosensing.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Analytisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Analytical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Antigen-binding activities

Binding capability

Biosensing

Covalent bonding

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

Fusion proteins

Gel mobility

Heterogeneous products

Protein functions

Protein moiety

Rolling circle amplifications

Sensitive detection

Site-specific

Antibodies

Antigens

Genes

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)