SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY AND DYNAMIC CONTACT-ANGLE STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF PARTIAL DENATURATION ON IMMUNOASSAY SOLID-PHASE ANTIBODY

A range of partial denaturation antibody pre-treatments that affect im munoassay performance have been evaluated. Monoclonal anti-ferritin an tibody was either partially denatured by heat, urea or pH pre-treatmen t or left untreated and then passively adsorbed to polystyrene microti ter wells. The adsorption characteristics and functionality of the dif ferent surfaces produced have been evaluated by dynamic contact angle (DCA) analysis and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) imaging respec tively. The DCA data show that the effect of partial denaturation is t o change the wetting characteristics of the antibody surfaces, while, in addition, STM imaging reveals marked effects seen in the aggregatio n properties of the denatured antibodies.