Microstructured peptide-functionalised surfaces by electrochemical polymerisation

For the first time, antigenic peptides have been immobilised by electrochemical polymerisation after having been modified with a polymerisable functional group. 3-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid was chosen as the novel polymerisable group. The synthetic peptides represent epitopes of the bovine foot and mouth disease virus and of the sodium channel of the cardiac muscle. The polymerisation was performed by applying a constant anodic potential or by cyclic voltammetry. A combination of these two methods was also employed, that is, cyclic voltammetry with a delay at the anodic vertex potential. No additional free phenolic monomer was required for the polymerisation. The layers formed by the polymerisation were recognised by specific antibodies. The specific binding of the antibodies to the polymer film could be demonstrated by ELISA, an enzyme-linked amperometric immunoassay, and electrochemical impedance measurements, as well as by fluorescence-labelled antibodies. A peptide derived from laminine was also immobilised by electrochemical polymerisation. It could be shown that neuroblastoma cells adhere to this layer.