Chemical amplification of nanomaterial probes

Chemical amplification of nanomaterial probes

To improve detection sensitivity, we have developed a simple, yet powerful method to amplify nanomaterial binding. This is achieved using a two-step procedure where a chemically-modified antibody was first applied, followed by covalent attachment of the nanomaterials using a bioorthogonal cycloaddition reaction. Specifically, we utilize the extremely rapid reaction between tetrazine (Tz) and a strained dienophile, trans-cyclooctene (TCO). Using this technique, we have achieved greater than 10-fold higher nanomaterial binding because numerous nanoparticles attach to a single antibody. Importantly, we successfully deployed this method in a clinical study using human tumor specimans. We are currently seeking to engineering antibodies and other “scaffold” constructs to support higher densities of nanomaterial probes.