Acid-Modulated Peptide Synthesis for Application on Oxide Biosensor Interfaces

In this paper we report an acid-modulated strategy for novel peptide microarray production on biosensor interfaces. We initially selected a controlled pore glass (CPG) as a support for solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) to implement a chemistry that can be performed at the interface of multiple field effect transistor (FET) sensors, eventually to generate label-free peptide microarrays for protein screening. Our chemistry uses a temporary protection of the N-terminal amino function of each amino acid building block with a tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) group that can be removed after each SPPS cycle, in combination with semi-permanent protection of the side chains of trifunctional amino acid residues. Such a protection scheme with a well-proven record of application in conventional, batchwise SPPS has been fine-tuned for optimal performance on CPG and, from there, translated to SPR chips that allow layer-by-layer monitoring of amino acid coupling. Our results validate this acid-modulated synthesis as a feasible approach for producing peptides in high yields and purity on flat glass surfaces, such as those in bio-FETs.