Bioactive modification of silicon surface using self-assembled hydrophobins from Pleurotus ostreatus

A crystalline silicon surface can be made biocompatible and chemically stable by a self-assembled biofilm of proteins, the hydrophobins (HFBs) purified from the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. The protein modified silicon surface shows an improvement in wettability and is suitable for immobilization of other proteins. Two different proteins were successfully immobilized on the HFBs coated chips: the bovine serum albumin and an enzyme, a laccase, which retains its catalytic activity even when bound on the chip. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), water contact angle (WCA), and fluorescence measurements demonstrated that the proposed approach in silicon surface bioactivation is a feasible strategy for the fabrication of a new class of hybrid biodevices