Probing the interaction of a membrane receptor with a surface-attached ligand using whole cells on acoustic biosensors

Two different types of acoustic sensors, a surface acoustic wave device supporting a Love-wave (Love-SAW) and a quartz crystal microbalance system with dissipation (QCM-D), were used to demonstrate the potential of acoustic devices to probe the binding of a cell membrane receptor to an immobilized ligand. The class I Major Histocompatibility Complex molecule HLA-A2 on the surface of whole cells and anti-HLA monoclonal antibodies immobilized on the sensor were used as an interaction pair. Acoustic measurements consisted of recording the energy and velocity or frequency of the acoustic wave. Results showed that both devices could detect the number of cells in solution as well as the cells bound to the surface. In addition, the Love-wave sensor, which can sense binding events within the relatively short distance of ∼50 nm from the device surface, was sensitive to the number of bonds formed between the cell membrane and the device surface while the QCM-D, which can sense deeper within the liquid, was found to respond well to stimuli that affected the cell membrane rigidity (cytochalasin D treatment). The above results suggest that acoustic biosensors can be a powerful tool in the study of cell/substrate interactions and acoustic devices of different type can be used in a complementary way.