A Nanostructured Impedance Microsensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Macromolecular Assembly and Elisa-on-a-Chip

Abstract

This paper presents an impedimetric microsensor that monitors nano sensing probe functionalization in real-time to optimize on-chip enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The self-assembly dynamics of Tobacco mosaic virus-like particle (VLP) bioreceptors were studied using continuous measurement of the electrical impedance between the interdigitated microelectrodes, which contributed to an optimized and reduced VLP assembly time from 18 hours to 3 hours. The impedance sensor with optimized VLP assembly effectively sensed antibody binding in on-chip ELISA which showed a 64% higher impedance change compared to the control experiment. These results combined highlight the significant potential of genetically modified VLPs as selective nanostructured probes for rapid immunoassays.