CRP-binding bacteriophage as a new element of layer-by-layer assembly carbon nanofiber modified electrodes

Recently, bacteriophage particles have started to be applied as a new biomaterial for developing sensing platforms. They can be used as both a recognition element or/and as building blocks, template/scaffold. In this paper, we studied a bacteriophage selected through phage-display technology. The chosen bacteriophage acted as a building block for creating a carbon nanofiber-based electrode and as a new receptor/binding element that recognizes C-reactive protein (CRP) – one of the markers of inflammatory processes in the human body. The binding efficiency of the selected phage towards CRP is two orders of magnitude higher than in the wild type. We demonstrate that the phage-based sensor is selective against other proteins. Finally, we show that layer-by-layer methods are suitable for deposition of negatively charged phages (wild or CRP-binding) with positively charged carbon nanofibers for electrode surface modification. A three-layered electrode was successfully used for molecular recognition of CRP, and the molecular interactions were studied using electrochemical, biological, and optical methods, including microscopic and spectroscopic analyses.