Poly(oligoethylene
glycol methacrylate) Dip-Coating:
Turning Cellulose Paper into a Protein-Repellent Platform for Biosensors
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Abstract
The
passivation of nonspecific protein adsorption to paper is a
major barrier to the use of paper as a platform for microfluidic bioassays.
Herein we describe a simple, scalable protocol based on adsorption
and cross-linking of poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA)
derivatives that reduces nonspecific adsorption of a range of proteins
to filter paper by at least 1 order of magnitude without significantly
changing the fiber morphology or paper macroporosity. A lateral-flow
test strip coated with POEGMA facilitates effective protein transport
while also confining the colorimetric reporting signal for easier
detection, giving improved performance relative to bovine serum albumin
(BSA)-blocked paper. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays based on POEGMA-coated
paper also achieve lower blank values, higher sensitivities, and lower
detection limits relative to ones based on paper blocked with BSA
or skim milk. We anticipate that POEGMA-coated paper can function
as a platform for the design of portable, disposable, and low-cost
paper-based biosensors