Date of Award
Fall 12-21-2016
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
Antibody-antigen recognition enables antibody-conjugated nanostructures to serve as plasmonic biosensors with tunable specificity. However due to the instability of antibodies, these biosensors are susceptible to changes in the environment such as heat and aridity, leading to constraints on the transportation and handling of these sensors. Here we establish a method using a metal-organic framework crystal to preserve biosensor activity under severe environmental conditions, including exposure to high temperatures, an organic solvent and a proteolytic agent. After zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) crystals formed for 12 hours on a biosensor of gold nanorods conjugated with a model antibody, rabbit IgG, 80% of the antibody activity is successfully retained after incubation at 60 °C for 24 hours. We investigated the change of preservation ability with respect to the growth of ZIF-8 film. Furthermore, in comparison with silk fibroin films, which showed similar function in previous studies, ZIF-8 films demonstrate stronger preservation ability in various conditions.
Language
English (en)
Chair
Srikanth Singamaneni
Committee Members
Srikanth Singamaneni, Guy M. Genin, Jeremiah J. Morrissey
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7VM49PD