Eur. Phys. J. E 30, 181-185 (2009)
DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2009-10481-y

Bioactive modification of silicon surface using self-assembled hydrophobins from Pleurotus ostreatus

L. De Stefano¹, I. Rea¹, E. De Tommasi¹, I. Rendina¹, L. Rotiroti¹, M. Giocondo², S. Longobardi³, A. Armenante³ and P. Giardina<sup>3

1</sup>  Unit of Naples-Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, National Council of Research, Via P. Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
²  Dept. of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Cintia 4, 80126, Naples, Italy
³  LICRYL, INFM-CNR, Via P. Bucci, Cubo 33/B, 87036, Cosenza, Italy

luca.destefano@na.imm.cnr.it

Received 16 January 2009 / Revised version 22 June 2009 / Published online 18 September 2009

Abstract

A crystalline silicon surface can be made biocompatible and chemically stable by a self-assembled biofilm of proteins, the hydrophobins (HFBs) purified from the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. The protein-modified silicon surface shows an improvement in wettability and is suitable for immobilization of other proteins. Two different proteins were successfully immobilized on the HFBs-coated chips: the bovine serum albumin and an enzyme, a laccase, which retains its catalytic activity even when bound on the chip. Variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), water contact angle (WCA), and fluorescence measurements demonstrated that the proposed approach in silicon surface bioactivation is a feasible strategy for the fabrication of a new class of hybrid devices.

PACS
87.15.N- - Properties of solutions of macromolecules.
89.90.+n - Other topics in areas of applied and interdisciplinary physics.

Correspondence: luca.destefano@na.imm.cnr.it


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2009