Synthesis and characterization of CN-modified protein analogues as potential vibrational contrast agents

A recombinant VH single-domain antibody recognizing staphylococcal protein A was functionalized on reactive lysine residues with N-hydroxysuccimidyl-activated 4-cyanobenzoate. Surface plasmon resonance analysis of antibody-antigen binding revealed that modified and unmodified antibodies bound protein A with similar affinities. Raman imaging of the modified antibodies indicated that the benzonitrile group provides vibrational contrast enhancement in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum that is transparent to cellular materials. Thus, the modified single-domain antibody may be amenable to detecting protein A from samples of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus using vibronic detection schemes such as Raman and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. The generality of this labeling strategy should make it applicable to modifying an array of proteins with varied structure and function.