title: Impact of dissociation constant on the detection sensitivity of polymerization-based signal amplification reactions.
abstract: Many studies have demonstrated the concept of using free-radical polymerization reactions to provide signal amplification so that molecular recognition events indicative of disease states may be detected in a simple and low-cost manner. We provide the first systematic study of how the dissociation constant impacts detection sensitivity in these assays, having chosen a range of dissociation constants (nanomolar to picomolar) that is typical of those encountered in molecular diagnostic applications that detect protein-protein binding events. In addition, we use experimental results to validate a mass-action kinetic model that may be used to predict assay performance as an alternative or supplement to the empirical approach to developing new polymerization-based amplification assays that has characterized the field to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Kaja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaastrup
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Hadley D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Sikes
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D058105:Polymerization; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors