“…Therefore, a wide variety of biomolecules including aptamers, peptides, enzymes and carbohydrates have been used to provide MNPs with specificity and bioactivity. − However, among these biomolecules, Abs present themselves as very convenient candidates due to their large diversity, high specificity, and recognition efficiency. − Several strategies have been developed for the incorporation of Abs on different supports. − It must be said though that Ab functionalization of MNPs have some limitations when compared to surfaces and microbeads, such as easy aggregation with small changes of pH and/or ionic strength, polymeric shell instability, batch to batch MNPs irreproducibility, or presence of surfactants. This can be the reason why, to our knowledge, there are in the literature several contributions regarding the complexation of magnetic microbeads with Abs, but only a few for MNPs. − One of the most popular strategies entails the covalent attachment of the Ab through their most reactive amine groups. This is a simple methodology which does not involve the chemical modification of the Ab since amine groups are present in most proteins and are very reactive moieties. − However, the use of this protocol implies working at pH values below 8.0, which results in a random orientation of the Ab on the MNP surface.…”