title: PAMAM dendrimers: A multifunctional nanomaterial for ECL biosensors.
abstract: Polyamido amine (PAMAM) dendrimers have been shown to function as electrochemiluminescence (ECL) co-reactant and have the inherent capability of improving immobilization of molecules on surfaces due to their dendritic structure. Here, we investigated the combination of both of these properties as the basis for biosensor development. Dendrimers with 5, 8, 10 and 16 terminal amine groups, respectively, were used. These were covalently coupled to biotin as model recognition site, and tagged with Ru(bpy)32+via adsorption. Due to their hydrophilicity, Ru-dendrimers showed significantly improved electrochemical activity in comparison to the standard tripropylamine (TPA) assisted ECL and similar luminescence yields even though 10 fold less dendrimer concentration was required in comparison to TPA. Best signals were obtained for D8 and D10 dendrimers. These Ru-dendrimers were subsequently used for the quantification of streptavidin, as its binding to the biotin-tag caused a proportional decrease in ECL signal with a dynamic range of 5nM to 1μM. These preliminary studies demonstrate that PAMAM dendrimers can function as responsive signal generators in solution-based ECL-bioassays with an assumed even higher impact when being immobilized directly on the electrode-surface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Sunandan Divatia School of Science, NMIMS University, V.L. Mehta Road, Vile Parle (West), Mumbai 400056, India. Electronic address: Sudeshna.Chandra@nmims.edu.
authors.forename: Sudeshna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.affiliation: Universität Regensburg, Institut für Analytische Chemie, Chemo- und Biosensorik, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Universität Regensburg, Institut für Analytische Chemie, Chemo- und Biosensorik, 93040 Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: antje.baeumner@ur.de.
authors.forename: Antje J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Baeumner
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D001710:Biotin / Q000737:chemistry; D050091:Dendrimers / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D012428:Ruthenium / Q000737:chemistry; D019809:Streptavidin / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D050091:Dendrimers; C104700:PAMAM Starburst; D001710:Biotin; D012428:Ruthenium; D019809:Streptavidin
keywords: Biosensor; ECL; PAMAM dendrimer