Model-guided interface probe arrangement for sensitive protein detection.

A wide range of analytical techniques in bioanalysis rely on surface-based biomolecular detection, which requires the confinement of probes onto heterogeneous surface to react with targets. Probe arrangement on the interface is critical for target recognition and determines assay performance. Much effort has been devoted to screen the optimized probe arrangement according to experimental tests. Such a data-driven posteriori pattern faces low efficiency, ambiguous orientation and possible deviated tested ranges from the best case. Herein we demonstrate that a model can effectively guide probe arrangement onto interface to facilitate probe-target recognition, embodied by assay of human telomerase activity with DNA-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Both theoretical calculation and experimental results indicate that telomerase activity is maximized on AuNP surface under guidance of model. The detection limit is at least one order of magnitude lower than that of AuNP bearing densely-packed DNA, comparable to that of TRAP. Model-guided interface probe arrangement is proved to be highly useful in regulating interface recognition and may offer a new paradigm to promote surface-based biomolecular detection.