Sol-gel entrapment of monoclonal anti-atrazine antibodies

We report the successful doping of a sol-gel matrix with an antibody, retaining its ability to bind free antigen from an aqueous solution. The particular system described is monoclonal anti-atrazine mouse antibody which was entrapped in SiO2 sol-gel matrices, prepared from tetramethoxysilane by several methods. Atrazine was selected as a model compound for this study, within the framework of the development of immunochemical-based methods for monitoring pesticide residues and other organo-synthetic environmental contaminants. Nanogram quantities of atrazine were applied on SiO2 sol-gel columns doped with this antibody, and the amount of eluted antigen was determined by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Under appropriate sol-gel-forming conditions, high amounts of atrazine were bound to the sol-gels, ranging between 60% and 91% of the amount applied to the column. The combination of the properties of the sol-gel matrix (e.g., stability, inertness, high porosity, high surface area and optical clarity), together with the selectivity and sensitivity of the antibodies, enable extension of this feasibility study to development of a novel group of immunosensors which could be used for purification, concentration and monitoring of a variety of residues from different sources.