Electrochemically controllable conjugation of proteins on surfaces

The rational design of surfaces for immobilization of proteins is essential to a variety of biological and medical applications ranging from molecular diagnostics to advanced platforms for fundamental studies of molecular and cell biology. We have developed an advanced electrochemically based approach for site-selective and reaction-controlled immobilization of proteins on surfaces. When a molecular monolayer of 4-nitrothiophenol on gold electrode surfaces is reduced electrochemically in a selective fashion at its nitro groups, to afford amino groups by potentiometric scans, the amine can be employed to orchestrate the immobilization of proteins to the surface. This protein immobilization strategy could allow one to fabricate intricate protein structures on surfaces for addressing fundamental and applied problems in biology and medicine.