A simplified direct on-chip forward or reverse immune assay for
understanding protein-protein interactions in the serum
Abstract
Background: The identification of protein-protein interactions is of
great challenge. Therefore, we conducted this study to fabricate a gold
surface biochip with activated sophorolipids in combination with
16-amino-1-hexadecanethiol hydrochloride. Methods: We designed a direct
on-chip immunological assay strategy for measuring ligand-receptor
interactions in a forward or reverse manner, that is, a ligand was
immobilized on the biochip surface and allowed to interact with its
specific free receptor in the liquid phase and vice versa. The
specificity of molecular interactions on the biochip was evaluated using
an immunological blocking assay and a chemiluminescent immunoassay. To
test the potential utilization of biochip, we used the serum of
hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) patients as an experimental
entity. Results: The receptor CD25-based IL-2 and ligand IL-2-based CD25
assays revealed that the detection limits on the biochip were as low as
156pg/mL and 78pg/mL, respectively. Meanwhile, using the receptor- or
ligand-based platforms, we found that the positive rates of free IL-2
and soluble CD25 (sCD25) monomers in the sera of HLH patients were
14.3% and 71.4%, respectively, like our previous
specific-antibody-based biochip investigation. Also, the biochip shared
a good compatibility with CLIA assay in the measurement of sCD25(r=0.77,
P<0.01). Conclusions: The biochip platform can be expanded to
protein-specific serological diagnosis as a potential substitute for
immunoprecipitation and ELISA to understand the interactions between
proteins, ligands and receptors, and enzymes and substrates.