Voltammetric behaviour of DNA bases at a screen-printed carbon electrode and its application to a simple and rapid voltammetric method for the determination of oxidative damage in double stranded DNA

Functionalized solid electrodes for electrochemical biosensing of purine nucleobases and their analogues: a review

Interest in electrochemical analysis of purine nucleobases and few other important purine derivatives has been growing rapidly. Over the period of the past decade, the design of electrochemical biosensors has been focused on achieving high sensitivity and efficiency. The range of existing electrochemical methods with carbon electrode displays the highest rate in the development of biosensors. Moreover, modification of electrode surfaces based on nanomaterials is frequently used due to their extraordinary conductivity and surface to volume ratio. Different strategies for modifying electrode surfaces facilitate electron transport between the electrode surface and biomolecules, including DNA, oligonucleotides and their components. This review aims to summarize recent developments in the electrochemical analysis of purine derivatives, as well as discuss different applications.

Approaches to label-free flexible DNA biosensors using low-temperature solution-processed InZnO thin-film transistors

Low-temperature solution-processed In-Zn-O (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) exhibiting a favorable microenvironment for electron transfer by adsorbed artificial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have extraordinary potential for emerging flexible biosensor applications. Superb sensing ability to differentiate even 0.5 μL of 50 nM DNA target solution was achieved through using IZO TFTs fabricated at 280 °C. Our IZO TFT had a turn-on voltage (V(on)) of -0.8 V, on/off ratio of 6.94 × 10(5), and on-current (I(on)) value of 2.32 × 10(-6)A in pristine condition. A dry-wet method was applied to immobilize two dimensional double crossover tile based DNA nanostructures on the IZO surface, after which we observed a negative shift of the transfer curve accompanied by a significant increase in the Ion and degradation of the Von and on/off ratio. As the concentration of DNA target solution increased, variances in these parameters became increasingly apparent. The sensing mechanism based on the current evolution was attributed to the oxidation of DNA, in which the guanine nucleobase plays a key role. The sensing behavior obtained from flexible biosensors on a polymeric substrate fabricated under the identical conditions was exactly analogous. These results compare favorably with the conventional field-effect transistor based DNA sensors by demonstrating remarkable sensitivity and feasibility of flexible devices that arose from a different sensing mechanism and a low-temperature process, respectively.

Voltammetric behaviour of free DNA bases, methylcytosine and oligonucleotides at disposable screen printed graphite electrode platforms

Improvements in analytical methods for the determination and quantification of methylcytosine in DNA are vital since it has the potential to be used as a biomarker to detect different diseases in the first stage such as in the case of carcinomas and sterility. In this work we utilized screen printed graphite electrodes (SPGE) for studying the electrochemical response of all free DNA bases, methylcytosine and short oligonucleotides by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). CV and SWV responses of free DNA bases and methylcytosine have been investigated by using SPGE platforms and the feasibility of detecting and quantifying cytosine and methylcytosine as free DNA moieties has been evaluated as a function of pH, concentration and the presence of the other free DNA bases in solution simultaneously. Repeatability of using SWV has been performed for the electrochemical behavior of both 250 μM cytosine and 250 μM methylcytosine in the presence of 25 μM guanine, with coefficient of variations of 6.9% and 2.6% respectively based upon peak current (N = 5). Six-mer oligonucleotides with a sequence 5'-XXXCGC-3', where the XXX motif corresponds to TTT, TTA, TAA and AAA have been performed using SWV in 0.1 M acetate buffer pH 5.0 to explore how the DNA base position effects the electrooxidation of guanine and cytosine into the oligonucleotide. Furthermore SWV comparisons of the electrooxidation of the oligonucleotides 5'-CGCGCG-3' and its methylated 5'-mCGmCGmCG-3' have been performed with concentrations in acetate buffer solutions, and the interaction of both oligonucleotides with the graphitic surface of the SPGE has been demonstrated by fitting well-known adsorption models such as Freundlich and Langmuir kinetics according to the SWV current response of guanine, cytosine and methylcytosine into the oligonucleotide.

Electrochemical oxidation of guanine: electrode reaction mechanism and tailoring carbon electrode surfaces to switch between adsorptive and diffusional responses

The electrochemical oxidation of guanine is studied in aqueous media at various carbon electrodes. Specifically edge plane pyrolytic graphite (EPPG), basal plane pyrolytic graphite (BPPG), and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were used, and the voltammetry was found to vary significantly. In all cases, signals characteristic of adsorbed guanine were seen and the total charge passed varied from surface to surface in the order roughened BPPG > EPPG > BPPG > HOPG. It is of note that the peak height for the EPPG electrode is less than that found for roughened BPPG; furthermore, across the series of electrodes, there is a significant decrease in peak potential with increasing density of edge plane sites present at the electrode surface. This leads us to conclude that there are two dominating and controlling factors present: (i) the density of basal plane sites on which guanine can adsorb and (ii) the density of edge plane sites necessary for the electro-oxidation of the analyte. This conclusion is corroborated through further experiments with multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes. Adsorption was seen to be enhanced by modification of the EPPG surface with alumina particles, and as such, increased peak signals were observed in their presence. It is further reported that via the pre-adsorption of acetone onto the graphite surface that the adsorption of guanine may be blocked, resulting in a diffusional voltammetric signal. This diffusional response has been successfully modeled and gives insight into the complex -4e(-), -4H(+) oxidation mechanism; specifically, it enables explanation of the observed change in rate-determining step with scan rate. The oxidation of guanine first proceeds via a two-electron oxidation followed by a chemical step to form 8-oxoguanine, then 8-oxoguanine is then further oxidized to form nonelectroactive products. The change is mechanism is attributed to the variation in potential of the first and second electron transfer with scan rate.

Two independent label-free detection methods in one electrochemical DNA sensor

Two direct reagent-free detection methods were tested with Au/polypyrrole/oligonucleotide modified electrodes. Detection by monitoring guanine oxidation was realized amperometrically using an experimental setup which does not require any expensive electrochemical equipment and is therefore suitable for in situ detection. Target detection was also realized by monitoring the decrease in the amplitude of polypyrrole oxidation and reduction peaks in cyclic voltammetry experiments after incubation or injection of target into the electrochemical cell. Detection of 53 pM target within a 2000x excess of non-complementary sequences was possible. The possibility of a dual detection scheme in the same biosensor, with both detection schemes being totally independent from one another is very promising for genosensor design since it would result in a significant decrease in the number of false positive and false negative samples.

Stopped-flow kinetic fluorimetric studies of the interaction of Ru(II) complex with DNA and its analytical application

A simple, rapid, and sensitive stopped-flow kinetic fluorometric approach was established for the assay of DNA in synthetic samples and real samples by using the measures of initial reaction rate. The increased initial reaction rate is in proportion to the concentration of DNA in the range of 2.0x10(-8)M to 2.1x10(-6)M. The optimum conditions for various parameters on which the binding of Ru(phen)(2)(dppz)(2+) to DNA depends, were investigated. The influence of various surfactants on the interaction was discussed. Furthermore, stopped-flow techniques were employed to determine kinetic parameters of Ru(phen)(2)(dppz)(2+) binding to DNA under pseudo-first-order conditions. It was found that the interaction of Ru(phen)(2)(dppz)(2+) with DNA was very fast. A two-step reaction mechanism, a fast phase followed by a slow phase, was proposed.

Development of a disposable glucose biosensor using electroless-plated Au/Ni/copper low electrical resistance electrodes

This paper presents a glucose biosensor, which was developed using a Au/Ni/copper electrode. Until now, research regarding the low electrical resistance and uniformity of this biosensor electrode has not been conducted. Glucose oxidase (GOD) immobilized on the electrode effectively plays the role of an electron shuttle, and allows glucose to be detected at 0.055 V with a dramatically reduced resistance to easily oxidizable constituents. The Au/Ni/copper electrode has a low electrical resistance, which is less than 0.01 Omega, and it may be possible to mass produce the biosensor electrode with a uniform electrical resistance. The low electrical resistance has the advantage in that the redox peak occurs at a low applied potential. Using a low operating potential (0.055 V), the GOD/Au/Ni/copper structure creates a good sensitivity to detect glucose, and efficiently excludes interferences from common coexisting substances. The GOD/Au/Ni/copper sensor exhibits a relatively short response time (about 3s), and a sensitivity of 0.85 microA mM(-1) with a linear range of buffer to 33 mM of glucose. The sensor has excellent reproducibility with a correlation coefficient of 0.9989 (n=100 times) and a total non-linearity error of 3.17%.