Abstract
In this study, novel surfactant-coated magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and evaluated for enrichment performance towards the sensitive detection of disease biomarkers. Surfactants with phosphate ester groups (RD35A and RD66) were used as a coating to reduce aggregation and to enhance the nanoparticle dispersion. Importantly, sensitive enrichment of the target proteins using the antibody-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (Ab@MNP) was obtained, with a five-fold increase in recovery compared to uncoated magnetic nanoparticles. Similarly, phosphopeptide enrichment using the NTA@MNP in standard samples showed that the nanoparticles could selectively enrich phosphorylated peptides.