Abstract

ElectroMed – A Programmable Peptide/Protein Screening Platform for Immunology

Cesar Pascual García, Lead Research Associate, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technolog

Immunology has advanced significantly in recent years thanks to a better knowledge of molecular protein recognition, which has allowed for the creation of innovative treatment options such as genetic vaccines and cell therapies. However, there is a need to accelerate the process of epitope recognition by proteins in order to generate personalized therapies. ElectroMed has been a project with six European partners in which we created a concept for a programmable peptide screening platform based on an array of Immuno-FET sensors with programmable peptide receptors synthesized in-situ using electrochemically generated acid.

A proof-of-concept has been demonstrated by controlling the deprotection of acid labile groups, which enables a high purity synthesis of crude peptides. We remove diffusion-limited processes in chemistry by automating the peptide synthesis and using microfluidic flow in-situ synthesis in planar sensors, allowing us to expedite time to results. FET sensors have the potential to provide online quality control of peptide synthesis by detecting the fingerprints of acid labile group protection and deprotection, as well as superior information quality because label-free sensors can provide kinetic information.

In conclusion, our approach has the potential to speed research into peptide protein screening of linear peptide sequences. In this talk we will review our results and provide the context for the applications in immunology.