Immobilisation of proteins onto solid supports is a necessary element of many applications used in protein science. Traditionally, proteins are adsorbed onto surfaces by passive means or by any number of covalent chemistries that can adversely impact both the structure and function of the immobilised protein. New generation surfaces, continued miniaturisation and increasingly complex assay platforms continue to challenge the conventional methods used for protein surface attachment.

We have developed an alternative approach that utilises a novel metal complex chelation-based surface chemistry. Termed Mix&Go™, we demonstrate its effectiveness to simply and gently bind proteins onto most of the solid support surfaces typically used in ELISAs, bead based assays, immunoprecipitation, bioprocessing and biosensor applications. Mix&Go is an aqueous solution comprised of cationic metal polymers (<5,000 D) that bind surfaces with electron donating potential, resulting in the formation of thin film coatings (approx. 1nm thickness) that are very stable. The polymeric metal ions of Mix&Go chelate and bind by multi-avidity to both the surface and to biomolecules, thereby acting as a “molecular glue”.

We demonstrate the power of using metal coordination as opposed to traditional conjugation approaches by utilising the family of aqueous metal polymer formulations of Mix&Go. Multi-point avidity metal chelation is a fast, simple and gentle process similar for all surfaces tested. Using several model systems, including SDS-PAGE, Western Blotting, fluorescent and chemiluminescent assays, we demonstrate the utility of using Mix&Go to bind proteins onto several surfaces. Unlike other covalent coupling chemistries (e.g. EDC/NHS), Mix&Go allows the user to i) control protein loading, ii) retain functionality, and iii) create multi-functional constructs composed of two or more proteins in a single reaction with a range biomolecules (e.g. antibody, enzyme, streptavidin, oligonucleotides). The ease of use and versatility of Mix&Go shows great applicability to a broad spectrum of protein science applications.