Glucose conjugation with avidin

If P-galactosidase is used to conjugate with an SMCC-activated (strept)avidin, then there is no need to thiolate the enzyme, since it contains sulfhydryls in its native state (Fujiwara et al., 1988 Sivakoff and Janes, 1988). For conjugations using HRP, alkaline phosphatase, or glucose oxidase, however, thiolation is necessary to add the requisite sulfhydryls. 

Perhaps the most common conjugates of avidin or streptavidin involve attaching enzyme molecules for use in ELISA systems. As in the case of antibody-enzyme conjugation schemes (Chapter 10), by far the most commonly used enzymes for this purpose are horseradish peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase. Other enzymes such as (3-galactosidase and glucose oxidase are used less often, especially with regard to assay tests for clinically important analytes (Chapter 16). 

This immunosensor-type assay uses ferrocene methanol as co-substrate (redox mediator) of glucose oxidase (GOD). The various steps of the assay, shown in Fig. 8.20, are as follows (1) Covalent immobilization of protein A on graphite-polystyrene screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) (2) Addition of the rabbit IgG to be quantified which is captured specifically by protein A (3) Addition of a biotinylated goat anti-rabbit antibody (4) Addition of avidin-GOD conjugate (5) Addition of glucose and ferrocene methanol (6) Measurement of catalytic current by flow injection immunoassay. The voltammetric current corresponds to the one-electron oxidation of the ferrocenyl group to ferricinium. The electrode can subsequently be regenerated up to 30 times. The feasibility of the assay has been demonstrated for the case of monoclonal mouse anti-human prolactin (PL) with a detection limit of 0.02 pg mL [90]. 

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