Surface plasmon resonance imaging measurements of ultrathin organic films

The surface-sensitive optical technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging is used to characterize ultrathin organic and biopolymer films at m etal interfaces in a spatially resolved manner. Because of its high surface sensitivity and its ability to measure in real time the interaction of unl abeled biological molecules with arrays of surface-bound species, SPR imagi ng has the potential to become a powerful tool in biomolecular investigatio ns. Recently, SPR imaging has been successfully implemented in the characte rization of supported lipid bilayer films, the monitoring of antibody-antig en interactions at surfaces, and the study of DNA hybridization adsorption. The following is included in this review: (a) an introduction to the princ iples of surface plasmon resonance, (b) the details of SPR imaging instrume ntal design, (c) a short discussion concerning resolution, sensitivity, and quantitation in SPR imaging, (d) the details of DNA. array fabrication on chemically modified gold surfaces, and (e) two examples that demonstrate th e application of the SPR imaging technique to the study of protein-DNA inte ractions.