Direct electron transfer of xanthine oxidase and its catalytic reduction to nitrate

Structure and Modification of Electrode Materials for Protein Electrochemistry

The interactions between proteins and electrode surfaces are of fundamental importance in bioelectrochemistry, including photobioelectrochemistry. In order to optimise the interaction between electrode and redox protein, either the electrode or the protein can be engineered, with the former being the most adopted approach. This tutorial review provides a basic description of the most commonly used electrode materials in bioelectrochemistry and discusses approaches to modify these surfaces. Carbon, gold and transparent electrodes (e.g. indium tin oxide) are covered, while approaches to form meso- and macroporous structured electrodes are also described. Electrode modifications include the chemical modification with (self-assembled) monolayers and the use of conducting polymers in which the protein is imbedded. The proteins themselves can either be in solution, electrostatically adsorbed on the surface or covalently bound to the electrode. Drawbacks and benefits of each material and its modifications are discussed. Where examples exist of applications in photobioelectrochemistry, these are highlighted.

Xanthine dehydrogenase electrocatalysis: autocatalysis and novel activity

The enzyme xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) from the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus catalyzes the oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and xanthine to uric acid as part of purine metabolism. The native electron acceptor is NAD(+) but herein we show that uric acid in its 2-electron oxidized form is able to act as an artificial electron acceptor from XDH in an electrochemically driven catalytic system. Hypoxanthine oxidation is also observed with the novel production of uric acid in a series of two consecutive 2-electron oxidation reactions via xanthine. XDH exhibits native activity in terms of its pH optimum and inhibition by allopurinol.

Xanthine oxidase/laponite nanoparticles immobilized on glassy carbon electrode: direct electron transfer and multielectrocatalysis

In this work, colloidal laponite nanoparticles were further expanded into the design of the third-generation biosensor. Direct electrochemistry of the complex molybdoenzyme xanthine oxidase (XnOx) immobilized on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by laponite nanoparticles was investigated for the first time. XnOx/laponite thin film modified electrode showed only one pair of well defined and reversible cyclic voltammetric peaks attributed to XnOx-FAD cofactor at about -0.370 V vs. SCE (pH 5). The formal potential of XnOx-FAD/FADH(2) couple varied linearly with the increase of pH in the range of 4.0-8.0 with a slope of -54.3 mV pH(-1), which indicated that two-proton transfer was accompanied with two-electron transfer in the electrochemical reaction. More interestingly, the immobilized XnOx retained its biological activity well and displayed an excellent electrocatalytic performance to both the oxidation of xanthine and the reduction of nitrate. The electrocatalytic response showed a linear dependence on the xanthine concentration ranging from 3.9 x 10(-8) to 2.1 x 10(-5)M with a detection limit of 1.0 x 10(-8)M based on S/N=3.