Assay bifunctional reagents

We have observed that such proteins as CaM and bovine serum albumin (BSA) can be developed at the air-water interface to form monolayer protein films. In previous works, the developed BSA monolayer was stabilized by cross-linking with a bifunctional reagent immediately after the preparation of protein monolayer. The BSA thin film thus prepared can be employed as a passive material, e.g., an ultrathin protein film for a matrix of enzyme-linked immunosorvent assays. 

An important consideration in catalyst, reagent or substrate recovery is measuring and verifying how effective such recovery actually is. While we have modeled such recovery using dye-modified polymers, analyses of catalysts typically requires additional analytical work. For example, ICP analysis for residual metal can be used as a quantitative and sensitive assay. Such assays are however more problematic with non-metallic catalysts. In this paper, we show that bifunctional polymers where both a catalyst and a colorimetric label are included in the same polyacrylamide polymer provide a simple way to monitor separability and catalyst recovery for non-metallic polymer-bound catalysts. 

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