Structural basis of reactivation of oncogenic p53 mutants by a small molecule: methylene quinuclidinone (MQ).

In response to genotoxic stress, the tumor suppressor p53 acts as a transcription factor by regulating the expression of genes critical for cancer prevention. Mutations in the gene encoding p53 are associated with cancer development. PRIMA-1 and eprenetapopt (APR-246/PRIMA-1MET) are small molecules that are converted into the biologically active compound, methylene quinuclidinone (MQ), shown to reactivate mutant p53 by binding covalently to cysteine residues. Here, we investigate the structural basis of mutant p53 reactivation by MQ based on a series of high-resolution crystal structures of cancer-related and wild-type p53 core domains bound to MQ in their free state and in complexes with their DNA response elements. Our data demonstrate that MQ binds to several cysteine residues located at the surface of the core domain. The structures reveal a large diversity in MQ interaction modes that stabilize p53 and its complexes with DNA, leading to a common global effect that is pertinent to the restoration of non-functional p53 proteins.

Structural insight into the molecular mechanism of p53-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis.

The tumor suppressor p53 is mutated in approximately half of all human cancers. p53 can induce apoptosis through mitochondrial membrane permeabilization by interacting with and antagonizing the anti-apoptotic proteins BCL-xL and BCL-2. However, the mechanisms by which p53 induces mitochondrial apoptosis remain elusive. Here, we report a 2.5 Å crystal structure of human p53/BCL-xL complex. In this structure, two p53 molecules interact as a homodimer, and bind one BCL-xL molecule to form a ternary complex with a 2:1 stoichiometry. Mutations at the p53 dimer interface or p53/BCL-xL interface disrupt p53/BCL-xL interaction and p53-mediated apoptosis. Overall, our current findings of the bona fide structure of p53/BCL-xL complex reveal the molecular basis of the interaction between p53 and BCL-xL, and provide insight into p53-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis.

Phosphorylation-regulated HMGA1a-P53 interaction unveils the function of HMGA1a acidic tail phosphorylations via synthetic proteins.

As a typical member of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), HMGA1a carries many post-translational modifications (PTMs). To study the undefined function of acidic tail phosphorylations, seven HMGA1a proteins with site-specific modification(s) were chemically synthesized via Ser/Thr ligation. We found that the phosphorylations significantly inhibit HMGA1a-P53 interaction and the phosphorylations can induce conformational change of HMGA1a from an "open state" to a "close state." Notably, the positively charged lysine-arginine (KR) clusters are responsible for modulating HMGA1a conformation via electrostatic interaction with the phosphorylated acidic tail. Finally, we used a synthetic protein-affinity purification mass spectrometry (SP-AP-MS) methodology to profile the specific interactors, which further supported the function of HMGA1a phosphorylation. Collectively, this study highlights a mechanism for regulating IDPs' conformation and function by phosphorylation of non-protein-binding domain and showcases that the protein chemical synthesis in combination with mass spectrometry can serve as an efficient tool to study the IDPs' PTMs.

The use of size-exclusion chromatography in the isolation of supercoiled minicircle DNA from Escherichia coli lysate.

Minicircle DNA (mcDNA) is the new cutting-edge technology which researchers have been exploring for gene therapy and DNA vaccination. Although it presents enormous advantages in comparison to conventional plasmid DNA regarding bioactivity and safety, its challenging isolation from parental plasmid and miniplasmid has been setting back its launching in biomedical sciences. In this work, it is demonstrated the use of a simple size exclusion chromatographic method for the isolation of supercoiled mcDNA. Sephacryl S-1000 SF matrix was explored under different conditions (flow, peak fractionation volume and sample loading) to achieve the best performance and retrieve a mcDNA sample devoid of other bacterial contaminants or plasmid species resultant from the recombination process. This isolation methodology resulted in 66.7% of mcDNA recovery with 98.1% of purity. In addition, to show the robustness of the method, the potential of using this matrix for the isolation of a larger mcDNA was also evaluated. Upon adjusting the flow or the column volume, the larger mcDNA molecule was also successfully isolated. Overall, a simple and effective strategy has been established for the isolation of supercoiled mcDNA, underlining the potential of size exclusion chromatography in mcDNA separation.

Expression, purification, and in vitro mitochondrial interaction analysis of full-length and truncated human tumor suppresser p53.

p53 is a potent tumor suppressor which can prevent the propagation of cells carrying oncogenic lesions via a multitude of pathways. Besides the transactivation of downstream genes encoding proapoptotic proteins, p53 is also able to physically interact with mitochondria and induce apoptosis through a so called transcriptional-independent pathway. In this study, we described a quick method for the expression and purification of soluble recombinant p53 and its different truncations in E. coli. These proteins are able to interact with mitochondria and induce mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization and associated downstream apoptotic events in a cell-free apoptosis analysis system.

Integrating an ex-vivo skin biointerface with electrochemical DNA biosensor for direct measurement of the protective effect of UV blocking agents.

Skin cancer is the most frequent kind of cancer in white people in many parts of the world. UV-induced DNA damage and genetic mutation can subsequently lead to skin cancer. Therefore development of new biosensing strategies for detection of UV-induced DNA damage is of great importance. Here we demonstrate a novel combination of an ex-vivo skin biointerface and an electrochemical DNA sensor for the direct detection of UV induced DNA damage and investigation the protective effect of various UV blockers (Zinc-oxide (ZnO), titanium-dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) and sunscreens) against DNA damage. A diazonium modified screen-printed carbon electrode immobilized with a DNA sequence related to the p53 tumour suppressor gene, the most commonly affected gene in human UV-induced skin cancer, was applied as an electrochemical DNA sensor. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed for the detection of DNA damage induced by UV-A radiation by following the changes in charge transfer resistance (Rct). The protective effects of UV blockers applied onto a pig skin surface (a suitable model representing human skin) were successfully detected by the DNA sensor. We observed that the naked skin has little UV protection showing an 18.2% decreases in ∆R/R values compared to the control, while applying both NPs and NP-formulated sunscreens could significantly reduce DNA damage, resulting in a decrease in ∆R/R values of 67.1% (ZnO NPs), 77.2% (TiO2 NPs), 77.1% (sunscreen 1) and 92.4% (sunscreen 2), respectively. Moreover, doping moisturising cream with NPs could provide a similar DNA protective effect. This new method is a biologically relevant alternative to animal testing and offers advantages such as fast, easy and inexpensive processing, in addition to its miniaturised dimension, and could be used for a range of applications in other sources of DNA damage and the protective effect of different UV blocking agents and other topical formulations.

Protein fishing from single live cells.

Intracellular protein and proteomic studies using mass spectrometry, imaging microscopy, flow cytometry, or western blotting techniques require genetic manipulation, cell permeabilization, and/or cell lysis. We present a biophysical method that employs a nanoaspirator to 'fish' native cytoplasmic or nuclear proteins from single mammalian cells, without compromising cell viability, followed by ex cellulo quantitative detection. Our work paves the way for spatiotemporally-controlled, quantitative, live, single-cell proteomics.

Twin target self-amplification-based DNA machine for highly sensitive detection of cancer-related gene.

The sensitive detection of cancer-related genes is of great significance for early diagnosis and treatment of human cancers, and previous isothermal amplification sensing systems were often based on the reuse of target DNA, the amplification of enzymatic products and the accumulation of reporting probes. However, no reporting probes are able to be transformed into target species and in turn initiate the signal of other probes. Herein we reported a simple, isothermal and highly sensitive homogeneous assay system for tumor suppressor p53 gene detection based on a new autonomous DNA machine, where the signaling probe, molecular beacon (MB), was able to execute the function similar to target DNA besides providing the common signal. In the presence of target p53 gene, the operation of DNA machine can be initiated, and cyclical nucleic acid strand-displacement polymerization (CNDP) and nicking/polymerization cyclical amplification (NPCA) occur, during which the MB was opened by target species and cleaved by restriction endonuclease. In turn, the cleaved fragments could activate the next signaling process as target DNA did. According to the functional similarity, the cleaved fragment was called twin target, and the corresponding fashion to amplify the signal was named twin target self-amplification. Utilizing this newly-proposed DNA machine, the target DNA could be detected down to 0.1 pM with a wide dynamic range (6 orders of magnitude) and single-base mismatched targets were discriminated, indicating a very high assay sensitivity and good specificity. In addition, the DNA machine was not only used to screen the p53 gene in complex biological matrix but also was capable of practically detecting genomic DNA p53 extracted from A549 cell line. This indicates that the proposed DNA machine holds the potential application in biomedical research and early clinical diagnosis.

Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensing of tumor suppressor protein p53 in unprocessed human plasma and cell lysates using a novel nanocomposite based on poly-cysteine/graphene quantum dots/gold nanoparticle.

An ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor for quantitation of tumor suppressor protein p53 based on ternary signal amplification strategy was fabricated. In this work, p53-antibody was immobilized onto a green and biocompatible nanocomposite containing poly l-cysteine (P-Cys) as conductive matrix and graphene quantum dots (GQDs)/gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as dual amplification elements. Therefore, a novel multilayer film based on P-Cys, GQDs, and GNPs was exploited to develop a highly sensitive immunosensor for detection of p53. Fully electrochemical methodology was used to prepare a new transducer on a gold surface which provided a high surface area to immobilize a high amount of the anti-p53. Under optimized condition the calibration curve for p53 concentration was linear up to 0.000197-0.016 pM (by SWV technique) and 0.195-50 pM (by DPV technique) with lower limit of quantification of 0.065 fM. Also, linear range and lower limit of quantification of p53 in unprocessed human plasma were 0.000592-1.296 pM and 0.065 fM, respectively. The method was applied to the assay of p53 in human plasma sample and normal and malignant cell line lysates such as normal cell Line from mouse C3H (L929), colon cancer cell-HCT, prostate cancer cell line PC-3, and human breast adenocarcinoma cell line-MCF7.

Programmable nanoassembly consisting of two hairpin-DNAs for p53 gene determination.

As one of the most exciting building blocks, DNA has gained increasing attention in the construction of promising nanostructures for various biological and medical purposes. In this contribution, we have developed an easily constructed DNA nanoassembly-based biosensing system that consists of one signal hairpin probe (SHP) and one label-free hairpin probe (LHP) for target p53 gene analysis. The probes of SHP and LHP were designed to be incapable of interacting with each other in the absence of the p53 gene. When the target gene is introduced, the 3' end of SHP (or LHP) hybridizes with the middle region of LHP (or SHP), leading to polymerase-sustained DNA nanoassembly. Because one target species can exhaust many building scaffolds to execute the programmable nanoassembly in one-pot approach, the fluorescence intensity of SHP is greatly enhanced in the presence of target gene in a simple and robust manner. The practical applicability was successfully demonstrated by screening target gene extracted from cancer cells. We believe this intriguing sensing strategy and desirable assay ability would provide new opportunities to develop versatile biochemical analysis methods.

Disposable Amperometric Immunosensor for the Determination of Human P53 Protein in Cell Lysates Using Magnetic Micro-Carriers.

An amperometric magnetoimmunosensor for the determination of human p53 protein is described in this work using a sandwich configuration involving the covalent immobilization of a specific capture antibody onto activated carboxylic-modified magnetic beads (HOOC-MBs) and incubation of the modified MBs with a mixture of the target protein and horseradish peroxidase-labeled antibody (HRP-anti-p53). The resulting modified MBs are captured by a magnet placed under the surface of a disposable carbon screen-printed electrode (SPCE) and the amperometric responses are measured at -0.20 V (vs. an Ag pseudo-reference electrode), upon addition of hydroquinone (HQ) as a redox mediator and H2O2 as the enzyme substrate. The magnetoimmunosensing platform was successfully applied for the detection of p53 protein in different cell lysates without any matrix effect after a simple sample dilution. The results correlated accurately with those provided by a commercial ELISA kit, thus confirming the immunosensor as an attractive alternative for rapid and simple determination of this protein using portable and affordable instrumentation.

Adenocarcinoma de tipo glándula salivar y adenoma paratiroideo intratiroideos en paciente con bocio multinodular / Intrathyroid salivary adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified and parathyroid adenoma in multinodular goiter

No disponible

Estudio macro y microscópico de salpingectomías profilácticas en mujeres BRCA positivo / Macro and microscopic study of prophylactic salpingectomy in women with BRCA mutations

El cáncer seroso ovárico está englobado dentro del carcinoma de ovario. Se distinguen 1 tipos de carcinomas serosos: tipo 1 (mutación frecuente de PTEN, KRAS y BRAF) que corresponde al carcinoma seroso de bajo grado y tipo 2 (mutación frecuente de p53) que corresponde al carcinoma seroso de alto grado. Su origen ha sido motivo de controversia; clásicamente predominaba la hipótesis de la ovulación incesante, que atribuía el origen a daños en la superficie ovárica durante la ovulación y metaplasias posteriores. Actualmente se han propuesto hipótesis que sitúan a la trompa de Falopio como el origen del carcinoma seroso ovárico de alto grado. Con el fin de demostrar esta hipótesis, se analizaron 20 muestras consecutivas de pacientes salpingooforectomizadas bilateralmente con mutaciones en BRCA1-2 conocidas. Se estudió la trompa macroscópicamente según el protocolo SEE-FIM y se siguió el algoritmo diagnóstico de carcinoma intraepitelial tubárico seroso de Kurman. Se realizó inmunohistoquímica para Ki-67 y p53 en todas las secciones. Así encuadramos a todas las trompas estudiadas en 4 categorías: normal, STIC (carcinoma intraepitelial), STIL (lesión tubárica intraepitelial en transición) y señal p53. En nuestra serie hemos obtenido 7 casos con diagnósticos diferentes al normal (35%): 2 STIL (10%) y 5 señal p53 (25%). El resto de trompas no mostraron atipia citológica ni inmunotinción con los anticuerpos usados. El estudio de los ovarios no mostró lesiones en ninguno de los casos. Estos resultados están de acuerdo con los obtenidos por otros investigadores, reflejando una lesión tubárica inicial, que revela una mutación del gen supresor de tumores (p53) que podría jugar un papel importante en la tumorogénesis del carcinoma seroso ovárico de alto grado (AU)

Serous ovarian cancer is a type of ovarian carcinoma. Two subtypes of serous carcinoma can be distinguished: Type 1 (frequent mutation of PTEN, KRAS and BRAF), corresponding to low-grade serous carcinoma, and Type 2 (frequent mutation of p53), corresponding to high-grade serous carcinoma. Its origin is not clear; classically causative factors included continuous ovulation, damage to the ovarian surface during ovulation and subsequent metaplasia. However, recently it has been proposed that the fallopian tube may be the origin of high-grade serous carcinoma. In order to test this hypothesis, we analyzed samples from 20 patients with known mutations in BRCA1-2 who had undergone bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The fallopian tube was studied macroscopically following the SEE-FIM protocol and Kurman's algorithm for the diagnosis of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma. All the sections were tested immunohistochemically with Ki-67 and p53 and the fallopian tubes were classified into 4 categories: normal, STIC (intraepithelial carcinoma), STIL (intraepithelial tubal lesion in transition) and p53 signature. In the series studied, 7 cases (35%) were diagnosed as abnormal: 2 STIL (10%) and 5 p53 signature (25%). The rest of the fallopian tubes showed no cytological atypia or immunostaining with the antibodies used. A study of the ovaries found no lesions in any of the cases. These findings agree with the results of other authors, and point to an initial lesion in the tube, reflecting a mutation of a tumour-suppressing gene (p53), which might play an important role in the development of high grade ovarian serous carcinoma (AU)

Exome-based proteogenomics of HEK-293 human cell line: Coding genomic variants identified at the level of shotgun proteome.

Genomic and proteomic data were integrated into the proteogenomic workflow to identify coding genomic variants of Human Embryonic Kidney 293 (HEK-293) cell line at the proteome level. Shotgun proteome data published by Geiger et al. (2012), Chick et al. (2015), and obtained in this work for HEK-293 were searched against the customized genomic database generated using exome data published by Lin et al. (2014). Overall, 112 unique variants were identified at the proteome level out of ∼1200 coding variants annotated in the exome. Seven identified variants were shared between all the three considered proteomic datasets, and 27 variants were found in any two datasets. Some of the found variants belonged to widely known genomic polymorphisms originated from the germline, while the others were more likely resulting from somatic mutations. At least, eight of the proteins bearing amino acid variants were annotated as cancer-related ones, including p53 tumor suppressor. In all the considered shotgun datasets, the variant peptides were at the ratio of 1:2.5 less likely being identified than the wild-type ones compared with the corresponding theoretical peptides. This can be explained by the presence of the so-called "passenger" mutations in the genes, which were never expressed in HEK-293 cells. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with the dataset identifier PXD002613 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD002613).

Highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of p53 protein using functionalized Ru-silica nanoporous@gold nanocomposite.

A simple, rapid response time and ultrahigh sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor based on Ru(bpy)3(2+)doped silica doped AuNPs (Ru-Si@Au nanocomposite) was developed for detection of p53 protein, a well-known tumor suppressor. The immunosensor was constructed using biotinylated capture antibody, immobilized on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using streptavidin modified-gold nanoparticles/thiolated graphene oxide, followed by its conjugation with the Ru-silica@Au nanocomposite labeled secondary antibody to form a sandwich-type immunocomplex. The use of Ru-Si@Au nanocomposites led to a remarkable increase in the ECL intensity and, thus, the sensitivity of the method. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range of the proposed p53 immunosensor was found between 0.2 and 200 pM with a calculated limit of detection of 22.8 fM. The selectivity and reproducibility of the immunosensor was also investigated and the results showed high specificity and great stability in detecting of p53. Moreover, the ECL immunosensor was successfully applied for quantification of p53 protein in the human spiked serum samples and more importantly in the human normal and cancer skin fibroblast cells showing much satisfactory result compared with the ELISA method. The proposed immunosensor reported herein offers a considerable potential in early detection of cancer and clinical diagnosis and provides a new platform for biomarker detection.

Simultaneous immunoassay of phosphorylated proteins based on apoferritin templated metallic phosphates as voltammetrically distinguishable signal reporters.

A novel electrochemical immunosensor has been developed to detect phosphorylated proteins, phospho-p53(15) and phospho-p53(392), simultaneously. Different apoferritin templated metal phosphates were used as distinguishable signal reporters (apoferritin templated cadmium phosphates (ATCP) and apoferritin templated lead phosphates (ATLP)) to enhance the detection sensitivity. Here, magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles functionalized phospho-p53(15) capture antibody (MP-p53(15)c-Ab) and phospho-p53(392) capture antibody (MP-p53(392)c-Ab), respectively, were used to specifically capture phospho-p53(15) and phospho-p53(392) antigens, followed by immunorecognition with p53(15) detection antibody (p53(15)d-Ab) and p53(392) detection antibody (p53(392)d-Ab) to form sandwich-like immunocomplexes. SiO2@Au nanocomposites served as nanocarriers for co-immobilization of both d-Ab and signal reporters (ATCP/SiO2@Au/p53(15)d-Ab, ATLP/SiO2@Au/p53(392)d-Ab), which greatly amplified the detection signal. The distinguished current responses were achieved by electrochemical detection of cadmium ions and lead ions with square wave voltammetry (SWV) after dissolution with acid. The proposed immunoassay exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of phospho-p53(15) and phospho-p53(392) simultaneously. The linear relationships between electrochemical responses and the concentrations of phospho-p53(15) and phospho-p53(392) were obtained in the range of 0.1-20 ng/mL and 0.05-20 ng/mL, respectively. The detection limits were 0.05 and 0.02 ng/mL (S/N=3), respectively. This strategy provides a new platform for simultaneous immunoassay of multiple protein biomarkers.

Intelligent DNA machine for the ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of nucleic acids.

As DNA is employed to serve as a smart building block, an increasing interest has been devoted to the development of different DNA-based machines for the specific purpose, for example, the exploration of inter- or intramolecular interaction. In the current contribution, we developed an intelligent DNA machine and its operation can be designed to execute the ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of target nucleic acids. The DNA machine consists of a hairpin probe (HP) and an assistant template (AT). Using p53 gene as the target model to trigger the molecular machine operation, cyclic nucleic acid strand displacement polymerization (CNDP) was specifically induced, leading to the DNAzyme mediated catalytic reaction for signal readout. Specifically, with the help of polymerase and nickase, one target molecule was able to drive DNA nano-mechanical devices one-by-one through the hybridization/polymerization displacement cycles, and every initiated machine continued to operate, causing the dramatic accumulation of G-quadruplex-contained products. The G-quadruplex structure after binding to hemin could act as a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mimicking DNAzyme and catalyzed the oxidation of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) by H2O2. As a result, an enhanced color change could be detected because of the generation of oxidation product ABTS•(+). In this way, the DNA machine has no any signal loss and enables the quantitative measurement of p53 DNA with a detection limit of 10fM, indicating great promise for unique application in biomedical research and early clinical diagnosis.

A valveless rotary microfluidic device for multiplex point mutation identification based on ligation-rolling circle amplification.

Genetic variations such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and point mutations are important biomarkers to monitor disease prognosis and diagnosis. In this study, we developed a novel rotary microfluidic device which can perform multiplex SNP typing on the mutation sites of TP53 genes. The microdevice consists of three glass layers: a channel wafer, a Ti/Pt electrode-patterned resistance temperature detector (RTD) wafer, and a rotary plate in which twelve reaction chambers were fabricated. A series of sample injection, ligation-rolling circle amplification (L-RCA) reaction, and fluorescence detection of the resultant amplicons could be executed by rotating the top rotary plate, identifying five mutation points related with cancer prognosis. The use of the rotary plate eliminates the necessity of microvalves and micropumps to control the microfluidic flow in the channel, simplifying the chip design and chip operation for multiplex SNP detection. The proposed microdevice provides an advanced genetic analysis platform in terms of multiplexity, simplicity, and portability in the fields of biomedical diagnostics.

Inhibidores BET. El singular compuesto (+)-JQ1 / BET inhibitors. The odd compound (+)-JQ1

El descubrimiento fortuito de los inhibidores BET (bromodomain extra-terminal), y en especial de los inhibidores del bromodominio BRD4, ha permitido modular con fármacos epigenéticos la transcripción del protooncogén c-MY C, entre otros genes implicados en la carcinogénesis y otras disfunciones. Estos fármacos, entre los que se encuentra el compuesto (+)-JQ1, han mostrado su potencial como anticancerosos, inmunomoduladores, anticonceptivos masculinos, antivirales, o agentes preventivos del fallo cardíaco. En esta revisión se analiza su descubrimiento, estructura, mecanismo de acción y sus perspectivas futuras

The serendipitous discovery of (bromodomain extra-terminal) (BET) inhibitors, especially of the BRD4 bromodomain inhibitors, has allowed modulation of gene transcription with epigenetic drugs. This is the case of protooncogen c- MY C and other genes involved in carcinogenesis and different disfunctions. These drugs, that include the compound (+)-JQ1, have shown their potencial as anticancer agents, immunomodulators, male contraceptives, antiviral, or heart failure chemopreventive agents, among others. In this review we analyze their discovery, structure, mechanism of action and future perspectives

Magnetic poly(glycidyl methacrylate) microspheres for protein capture.

The efficient isolation and concentration of protein antigens from complex biological samples is a critical step in several analytical methods, such as mass spectrometry, flow cytometry and immunochemistry. These techniques take advantage of magnetic microspheres as immunosorbents. The focus of this study was on the development of new superparamagnetic polymer microspheres for the specific isolation of the tumor suppressor protein p53. Monodisperse macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) microspheres measuring approximately 5 µm and containing carboxyl groups were prepared by multistep swelling polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), 2-[(methoxycarbonyl)methoxy]ethyl methacrylate (MCMEMA) and ethylene dimethylacrylate (EDMA) as a crosslinker in the presence of cyclohexyl acetate as a porogen. To render the microspheres magnetic, iron oxide was precipitated within their pores; the Fe content in the particles received ∼18 wt%. Nonspecific interactions between the magnetic particles and biological media were minimized by coating the microspheres with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) terminated by carboxyl groups. The carboxyl groups of the magnetic PGMA microspheres were conjugated with primary amino groups of mouse monoclonal DO-1 antibody using conventional carbodiimide chemistry. The efficiency of protein p53 capture and the degree of nonspecific adsorption on neat and PEG-coated magnetic microspheres were determined by western blot analysis.