Dendrimer Coated Long-Period-Grating (LPG) Biosensor

The detection of Biological Warfare agents (BW) is typically conducted using antibody-based techniques. DNA aptomer-based Long Period Grating (LPG) sensors provide the specificity to accurately distinguish the target from potential interference that wouldproduce false positive results. Stability is always a main concern for asensor-based detection platform. Methods to improve sensor stability have focused on using detergents, salts, protein, and pH. Luna proposes to use dendrimer coating based biosensors to improve stability of BW detectors. This new class of highly brancheddendritic macromolecules (dendrimers) has gained attention and is being used to increase the solubility of drugs, produce DNA biosensors, and deliver oligonucleotides to cells. Advantages of dendrimers include structural homogeneity, internal porosity,controllable composition, and multiple homogeneous chain ends. The goal of the proposed program is to enhance the aptomer sensor performance by utilizing dendrimers. Through corporate partnerships and government programs, Luna has successfully demonstrated the detection of protein-protein, DNA-DNA, and DNA-protein interactions with the LPG technology. Improvements in biosensor stability will result in systems thatwill meet requirements that currently are lacking in BW biosensors.