Surface Plasmon Resonance for Rapid Screening of Uranyl Affine Proteins

A sensitive immunoassay based on SPR analysis was developed to measure uranyl cation (UO2 (+)) affinity for any protein in a free state under physiological conditions The technique involves immobilization of a specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) raised against UO22+ and 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid (DCP) used as a probe of UO22+ captured by the nab Calibration curves were established for accurate determination of UO22+ concentrations with a detection limit of 7 nM The remaining free UO22+ could be accurately quantified from the different protein-metal equilibrium and a dose response curve established for K-D determination This generic method was applied not only to proteins such as transferrin and albumin but also to small phosphonated ligands Its robustness allows the fast UO22+ K-D determination of any kind of macromolecules and small ligands using very few amount of compounds, thus opening new prospects in the field of uranium toxicity