ELECTROPHORETIC DESORPTION FOR THE REGENERATION OF IMMUNOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SENSOR SURFACES

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DETERMINE IF THE PROVEN TECHNIQUE OF ELECTROPHORETIC DESORPTION (ED) CAN BE USED TO EFFECTIVELY REGENERATE IMMUNOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SURFACES SUITABLE FOR USE WITH MICROELECTRONIC BIOSENSORS. PREVIOUS WORK ON ED WAS DONE WITH CHROMATOGRAPHIC GELS, NOT PLANAR SURFACES. A SYSTEM FOR ED OF PLANAR SENSOR SURFACES WILL BE DEVELOPED; THE SYSTEM WILL BE OPTIMIZED AND EVALUATED FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF REGENERATION AND THE REUSABILITY OF THE REGENERATED SURFACE. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED INCLUDE: ELECTRIC FIELD GEOMETRIES, POWER REQUIREMENTS, PH, IONIC STRENGTH, TIME REQUIREMENTS, EFFICIENCY OF ELUTION AND REUSABILITY OF THE REGENERATED SURFACE. THE COMBINATION OF THIS TECHNIQUE WILL CHAOTROPIC AGENTS AND SURFACTANTS WILL ALSO BE STUDIED. THE REMOVAL OF BOTH LARGE AND SMALL MOLECULES WILL BE STUDIED. THE MODEL SYSTEMS WILL BE BASED ON ICSC SAW SENSORS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE INFORMATION GAINED FROM THIS STUDY SHOULD BE APPLICABLE TO OTHER ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL MICRO-SENSOR SYSTEMS AND RECEPTOR-BASED BIOSENSORS WHICH WILL BE STUDIED IN PHASE II OF THIS PROGRAM.