Site-specific immobilization of proteins on a surface
has been
a long-lasting challenge in the fields of biosensing and biotechnology
because of the need for improving the biological activity of immobilized
protein via the maximal exposure of its bioactive domain. Herein,
we reported a new site-specific immobilization method for His-tagged
proteins onto a vinyl sulfone (VS)-bearing surface in a covalent manner.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization indicated the specificity
of the addition reaction of the imidazole group in histidine on the
VS-bearing surface at pH 7.0. Solution-based experiments were carried
out to verify the reaction priority of the imidazole residue of histidine
with the VS group at neutral conditions. The real-time immobilization
process of two His-tagged proteins (HaloTag-6His and anti-HER2 Fab-6His)
on surfaces presenting VS, preactivated carboxyl, and NTA groups were
studied by quartz crystal microbalance. Compared to the existing methods
utilizing covalent (NHS/EDC activated carboxyl) and coordinate (Ni2+-NTA) linking, our method offers two significant advantages
for protein immobilization: high density and high specificity. The
orientation of the two His-tagged proteins on the VS-bearing surface
was confirmed by an enzyme-linked assay and an HER2+ liposome
binding experiment. Our method of site-specific immobilization of
His-tagged proteins is efficient and straightforward, which would
be helpful to expand the applications of recombinant proteins in enzyme
immobilization, biosensor and array fabrication, and drug delivery
system.