Synthesis of surface molecularly imprinted nanoparticles for recognition of lysozyme using a metal coordination monomer

Cupric ion coordination-mediated molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for the recognition and ratiometric detection of lidocaine

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been widely used as artificial recognition elements in sensing applications. However, their electrochemical sensing performance is generally hampered by limited affinity and uncontrolled condition change. In this work, a novel MIP electrochemical sensor based on metal coordination interaction was prepared and used for the recognition and ratiometric detection of lidocaine (LC). The sensor was constructed by electrodepositing Cu-coordinated MIP on biomass carbon modified glassy carbon electrode. Herein, Cu2+ ions acted as anchor for the immobilization of LC during the synthesis process, enabling the orderly formation of molecular recognition sites. Reversely, the metal coordination between Cu2+ ions and LC molecules facilitated the recognition of LC. Moreover, the doped cupric ions in the polymer film could provide a reference signal for subsequent ratiometric strategy. Thus the resulting sensor exhibited high selectivity, sensitivity, satisfactory reproducibility, and anti-interference ability. Under the selected conditions, the peak current ratio of LC and cupric ion was linear to LC concentration in the range of 0.008-2.5 μmol L-1 (R2 = 0.9951), and the limit of detection was 1.9 nmol L-1 (S/N = 3). The practical feasibility of the sensor was evaluated by detecting human serum and pharmaceutical samples, and satisfactory outcomes were obtained.

Fabrication and characterization of magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles for efficient determination and magnetic separation of sulfonamides in food samples

A magnetic, mesoporous core/shell structured Fe3O4@SiO2@mSiO2 nanocomposite was synthesized and employed as a magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) sorbent for the determination of trace sulfonamides (SAs) in food samples. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry. The results showed that Fe3O4@SiO2@mSiO2 possessed a mesoporous structure with a large surface area. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the adsorption ability for SAs. Fe3O4@SiO2@mSiO2 showed fast kinetics and high adsorption capacity, and the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm are well fitted with the experimental data, indicating that chemical adsorption might be the rate-limiting step. Moreover, the high adsorption capacity can be maintained for at least 8 runs, indicating excellent stability and reusability. The proposed method exhibited good linearity in the range of 0.2-500 μg L-1, the R2 values of all the analytes were greater than 0.99 and the LODs were all lower than 0.2 μg L-1. Furthermore, real food samples were successfully analyzed with Fe3O4@SiO2@mSiO2 and high recoveries varying from 89.7% and 110.6% were obtained with low relative standard deviations ranging from 1.78% to 6.91%. The Fe3O4@SiO2@mSiO2 magnetic nanocomposite is a promising sorbent for the efficient extraction of SAs from complex food samples.

Recent Advances in Molecular Imprinting for Proteins on Magnetic Microspheres

The separation of proteins in biological samples plays an essential role in the development of disease detection, drug discovery, and biological analysis. Protein imprinted polymers (PIPs) serve as a tool to capture target proteins specifically and selectively from complex media for separation purposes. Whereas conventional molecularly imprinted polymer is time-consuming in terms of incubation studies and solvent removal, magnetic particles are introduced using their magnetic properties for sedimentation and separation, resulting in saving extraction and centrifugation steps. Magnetic protein imprinted polymers (MPIPs), which combine molecularly imprinting materials with magnetic properties, have emerged as a new area of research hotspot. This review provides an overview of MPIPs for proteins, including synthesis, preparation strategies, and applications. Moreover, it also looks forward to the future directions for research in this emerging field.

Superior Binding of Proteins on a Silica Surface: Physical Insight into the Synergetic Contribution of Polyhistidine and a Silica-Binding Peptide

Controllable protein attachment onto solid interfaces is essential for the functionality of proteins with broad applications. Silica-binding peptides (SBPs) have emerged as an important tool enabling convenient binding of proteins onto a silica surface. Surprisingly, we found that removal of polyhistidines, a common tag for protein purification, dramatically decrease the binding affinity of a SBP-tagged nanobody onto a silica surface. We hypothesized that polyhistidines and SBPs can be combined to enhance affinity. Through a series of purposely designed SBPs, we identified that the relative orientation of amino acids is a key factor affecting the surface binding strength. One re-engineered SBP, SBP4, exhibits a 4000-fold improvement compared to the original sequence. Guided by physical insights, the work provides a simple strategy that can dramatically improve affinity between a SBP and a silica surface, promising a new way for controllable immobilization of proteins, as demonstrated using nanobodies.

Graphene Oxide/Silver Nanoparticles Platforms for the Detection and Discrimination of Native and Fibrillar Lysozyme: A Combined QCM and SERS Approach

We propose a sensing platform based on graphene oxide/silver nanoparticles arrays (GO/AgNPs) for the detection and discrimination of the native and toxic fibrillar forms of an amyloid-prone protein, lysozyme, by means of a combination of Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) measurements. The GO/AgNPs layer system was obtained by Langmuir-Blodgett assembly of the silver nanoparticles followed by controlled adsorption of GO sheets on the AgNPs array. The adsorption of native and fibrillar lysozyme was followed by means of QCM, the measurements provided the kinetics and the mechanism of adsorption as a function of protein concentration as well as the mass and thickness of the adsorbed protein on both nanoplatforms. The morphology of the protein layer was characterized by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy experiments on Thioflavine T-stained samples. SERS experiments performed on arrays of bare AgNPs and of GO coated AgNP after native, or fibrillar, lysozyme adsorption allowed for the discrimination of the native form and toxic fibrillar structure of lysozyme. Results from combined QCM/SERS studies indicate a general construction paradigm for an efficient sensing platform with high selectivity and low detection limit for native and amyloid lysozyme.

Synthesis of surface protein-imprinted nanoparticles based on metal coordination and anchored carbon dots for enhanced fluorescence detection

Molecularly imprinted polymers endowed with photo-luminescent properties have attracted wide research interest in many fields such as biological analysis and diseases diagnosis. Herein, we illustrate a versatile method for the construction of surface protein-imprinted nanoparticles based on metal coordination and anchored carbon dots (CDs) for enhanced fluorescence detection of the target protein. As the fluorescent nanosupports for surface imprinting, CDs-attached SiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized via thiol-ene click chemistry. With histidine (His)-exposed protein as templates, imprinted nanoshells were formed over the nanosupports via copolymerization of a Cu²⁺-chelating monomer and an oligo (ethylene glycol) monomer, hence producing high-quality imprinted cavities because of both the relatively strong coordination and inhibited non-specific binding. Using lysozyme as a model His-exposed template, the imprinted nanoparticles showed fluorescence enhancement while binding the target protein, and exhibited significantly increased specific fluorescence response than the controls without the metal coordination. They achieved a high imprinting factor of 5.8 and a low limit of detection of 10.1 nM. Furthermore, such sensors were applied to determine lysozyme in diluted chicken egg-white samples with satisfactory recoveries at three spiking levels ranging from 97.9 to 101.4%. Human serum albumin was also used as another template protein for preliminary confirming the generality of the presented strategy.

Advances in epitope molecularly imprinted polymers for protein detection: a review

Epitope molecularly imprinted polymers (EMIPs) are novel imprinted materials using short characteristic peptides as templates rather than entire proteins. To be specific, the amino acid sequence of the template peptide is the same as an exposed N- or C-terminus of a target protein, or its amino acid composition and sequence replicate a similar conformational arrangement as the same amino acid residues on the surface of the target protein. EMIPs have a good application prospect in protein research. Herein, we focus on classification of epitope imprinting techniques, methods of epitope immobilization on matrix materials including boronate affinity immobilization, covalent bonding immobilization, physical adsorption immobilization and metal ion chelation immobilization, and application of EMIPs in peptides, proteins, target imaging and target therapy fields. Finally, the main problems and future development are summarized.

Fabrication of polydopamine-based NIR-light responsive imprinted nanofibrous membrane for effective lysozyme extraction and controlled release from chicken egg white

The development of highly efficient performance matrix for protein adsorption and scalable throughput adsorbent is highly desired, especially in pharmaceuticals and food industries. In this work, we present a simple methodology to prepare a nanofibrous membrane based surface molecular imprinted matrix (MIP) for selective separation of lysozyme. The MIP was developed by coating carboxylated poly (vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) nanofibrous mat (EVOH-CCA NFM) with a near infrared (NIR)-light responsive polydopamine (PDA) layer. The open porous nanofibrous structure and a thin PDA layer endowed the MIPs with adsorption capacity (500 mg.g-1) within 150 min. The developed surface MIPs not only showed imprinting factor (IF = 4) with reusability upon 5 cycles, but also capability of extracting lysozyme from egg-white directly. The MIPs showed controlled release of extracted lysozyme triggered by the NIR-light responsive property of the PDA layer. Moreover, the released lysozyme possesses good bioactivity, evidenced by efficient decomposition of micrococcus bacterial cell wall.

Oriented Immobilization of Protein Templates: A New Trend in Surface Imprinting

In this Review, we have summarized recent trends in protein template imprinting. We emphasized a new trend in surface imprinting, namely, oriented protein immobilization. Site-directed proteins were assembled through specially selected functionalities. These efforts resulted in a preferably oriented homogeneous protein construct with decreased protein conformation changes during imprinting. Moreover, the maximum functionality for protein recognition was utilized. Various strategies were exploited for oriented protein immobilization, including covalent immobilization through a boronic acid group, metal coordinating center, and aptamer-based immobilization. Moreover, we have discussed the involvement of semicovalent as well as covalent imprinting. Interestingly, these approaches provided additional recognition sites in the molecular cavities imprinted. Therefore, these molecular cavities were highly selective, and the binding kinetics was improved.

Polymeric nanoparticles for selective protein recognition by using thiol-ene miniemulsion photopolymerization

The fabrication of molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (MIP-NPs) specific for myoglobin by using thiol-ene photopolymerization in miniemulsion was described. Allyl derivatives of phenylalanine as a functional monomer was synthesized and copolymerized with acrylic monomers via miniemulsion polymerization to produce NIP-NPs with approximately 74 nm number average particle diameter. FTIR and ¹H-NMR analysis confirmed the synthesis of functional monomer. MIP-NPs were prepared in the existence of myoglobin as a template protein. Morphological investigations exhibited that the particle size of the MIP-NPs, increased compared to the corresponding NIPs and the mean particle diameter by number was measured as 141 nm with narrow distribution. NIP-NPs that were polymerized without myoglobin were found to have less affinity to the target protein. In addition, the rebinding ability of MIP-NPs was much bigger than that of the corresponding NIPs. ELISA results showed that MIPs interact particularly with the myoglobin and show little affinity for BSA in competitive binding experiments.HighlightsAllyl N,N-diallyl phenylalaninate was synthesized as a functional monomer.Imprinted nanoparticles were prepared by using thiol-ene photopolymerization in miniemulsion.The nanoparticles were 141 nm with narrow size distribution.The imprinted nanoparticles showed selectivity toward myoglobin.

Nanomaterials for Healthcare Biosensing Applications

In recent years, an increasing number of nanomaterials have been explored for their applications in biomedical diagnostics, making their applications in healthcare biosensing a rapidly evolving field. Nanomaterials introduce versatility to the sensing platforms and may even allow mobility between different detection mechanisms. The prospect of a combination of different nanomaterials allows an exploitation of their synergistic additive and novel properties for sensor development. This paper covers more than 290 research works since 2015, elaborating the diverse roles played by various nanomaterials in the biosensing field. Hence, we provide a comprehensive review of the healthcare sensing applications of nanomaterials, covering carbon allotrope-based, inorganic, and organic nanomaterials. These sensing systems are able to detect a wide variety of clinically relevant molecules, like nucleic acids, viruses, bacteria, cancer antigens, pharmaceuticals and narcotic drugs, toxins, contaminants, as well as entire cells in various sensing media, ranging from buffers to more complex environments such as urine, blood or sputum. Thus, the latest advancements reviewed in this paper hold tremendous potential for the application of nanomaterials in the early screening of diseases and point-of-care testing.

Ni2+-BSA Directional Coordination-Assisted Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Microspheres with Enhanced Specific Rebinding to Target Proteins

Protein imprinting technology is of interest in drug delivery, biosensing, solid-phase extraction, and so forth. However, the efficient recognition and separation of proteins have remained challenging to date. Toward this, under the assistance of Ni²⁺-bovine serum albumin (BSA) directional coordination strategy, magnetic BSA-imprinted materials had been synthesized via dopamine self-polymerization on hollow Fe₃O₄@mSiO₂ microspheres (mSiO₂ referred as mesoporous silica). The well-defined imprinted microspheres possessed more satisfactory adsorption capacity (266.99 mg/g), enhanced imprinting factor (5.45), and fast adsorption saturation kinetics (40 min) for BSA, superior to many previous reports. Benefiting from the coordinate interaction between Ni²⁺ and BSA, these fabricated microspheres exhibited excellent specificity not only in individual and competitive protein rebinding samples but also in bovine serum. Combined with the directional coordination method, the magnetic-imprinted composite materials to selectively capture target proteins could provide promising potential in applications.

Ultrasensitive Microfluidic Paper-Based Electrochemical Biosensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Film and Boronate Affinity Sandwich Assay for Glycoprotein Detection

In this work, we proposed a strategy that combined molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and hybridization chain reaction into microfluidic paper-based analytical devices for ultrasensitive detection of target glycoprotein ovalbumin (OVA). During the fabrication, Au nanorods with a large surface area and superior conductibility were grown on paper cellulosic fiber as a matrix to introduce a boronate affinity sandwich assay. The composite of MIPs including 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (MPBA) was able to capture target glycoprotein OVA. SiO₂@Au nanocomposites labeled MPBA and cerium dioxide (CeO₂)-modified nicked DNA double-strand polymers (SiO₂@Au/dsDNA/CeO₂) as a signal tag were captured into the surface of the electrode in the presence of OVA. An electrochemical signal was generated by using nanoceria as redox-active catalytic amplifiers in the presence of 1-naphthol in electrochemical assays. As a result, the electrochemical assay was fabricated and could be applied in the detection of OVA in the wide linear range of 1 pg/mL to 1000 ng/mL with a relatively low detection limit of 0.87 pg/mL (S/N = 3). The results indicated that the proposed platform possessed potential applications in clinical diagnosis and other related fields.

Novel molecularly imprinted polymers on metal–organic frameworks as sensors for the highly selective detection of zearalenone in wheat

This work provides a rapid and simple method for the determination of trace substances in complex systems.

Isolation of transferrin by imprinted nanoparticles with magnetic deep eutectic solvents as monomer

Transferrin (TrF) is a very important human body glycoprotein and a clinical biomarker which controls the body's iron ion channels and iron ion balance. Any change in TrF concentration and isoform also reflects the emergence of some diseases. In this work, we prepared magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (deep eutectic solvent-molecular imprinting polymers [DES-MIPs]) with a deep eutectic solvent (DES) as a functional monomer to separate TrF in human serum. The DES dosage for MIP, pH value, and time for adsorption have been optimized, and these materials show special adsorption properties for TrF. The maximum adsorption capacity (Q_max) and dissociation constant K_L of the MIP by the Langmuir adsorption curve (R² = 0.9949) were 37.5 mg/g and 0.015 g/L, respectively. The imprinting factor of the MIP is 3.50 with relative standard deviation (5.63%). In summary, the use of DES as a functional monomer in molecular imprinting technology provides a novel, efficient, and biocompatible method for the isolation and purification of proteins. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Bacteria assisted protein imprinting in sol-gel derived films

A hierarchical imprinting strategy was used to create protein imprints in a silicate film with a high binding capacity as well as selectivity toward the imprint protein and little specificity towards other proteins. In the first part of this work, rod-shaped bacteria were used as templates to create imprints in silica films of various thicknesses to open up the silica framework and increase the surface area exposed to solution. In the second part, the protein (e.g., cytochrome c (CYC) or green fluorescent protein (GFP)) was covalently attached to the surface of Bacillus subtilis and this protein-bacteria complex served as the imprint moiety. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to image the micron-size rod-shaped bacteria imprints formed on the silica surface. Fluorescence microscopy, which was used to follow the fabrication process with GFP as the representative protein, clearly demonstrated protein imprinting, protein removal and protein rebinding as well as protein specificity. Visible absorption spectroscopy using CYC as the imprint protein demonstrated relatively fast uptake kinetics and also good specificity against other proteins including bovine serum albumin (BSA), horseradish peroxidase (HRP), glucose oxidase (GOD), and lysozyme (LYZ). Collectively this work demonstrates a new surface bio-imprinting approach that generates recognition sites for proteins and provides a viable means to increase the binding capacity of such imprinted thin films.

Fabrication and evaluation of molecularly imprinted magnetic nanoparticles for selective recognition and magnetic separation of lysozyme in human urine

The Lyz-MMIPs displayed a uniform core–shell structure, favorable magnetic properties, good accessibility, and good stability and had a good affinity and excellent binding selectivity to Lyz.

Uptake of heavy metal ions from aqueous media by hydrogels and their conversion to nanoparticles for generation of a catalyst system: two-fold application study

Poly(methacrylic acid) (P(MAA)), poly(acrylamide) (P(AAm)) and poly(3-acrylamidopropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride) (P(APTMACl)) were synthesized as anionic, neutral and cationic hydrogels, respectively. The synthesized hydrogels have the ability to be used as absorbents for the removal of selected heavy metal ions such as Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ from aqueous media. Absorption studies revealed that the absorption of metal ions by the hydrogels followed the order Cu²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Co²⁺ > Zn²⁺. For the mechanism of absorption, both Freundlich and Langmuir absorption isotherms were applied. Metal ion entrapped hydrogels were treated using an in situ chemical reduction method in order to convert the metal ions into metal nanoparticles for the synthesis of hybrid hydrogels. The synthesis and morphology were confirmed using FT-IR and SEM, while the absorbed metal amounts were measured using TGA and AAS. The hybrid hydrogels were further used as catalysts for the reduction of macro (methylene blue, methyl orange and congo red) and micro (4-nitrophenol and nitrobenzene) pollutants from the aqueous environment. The catalytic performance and re-usability of the hybrid hydrogels were successfully investigated.

Poly(methacrylic acid) (P(MAA)), poly(acrylamide) (P(AAm)) and poly(3-acrylamidopropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride) (P(APTMACl)) were synthesized as anionic, neutral and cationic hydrogels respectively.

Fabrication of micron-sized BSA-imprinted polymers with outstanding adsorption capacity based on poly(glycidyl methacrylate)/polystyrene (PGMA/PS) anisotropic microspheres

Monodisperse poly(glycidyl methacrylate)/polystyrene (PGMA/PS) anisotropic microspheres have been fabricated by seed polymerization for BSA-imprinting microspheres.

Low coherence digital holography microscopy based on the Lorenz-Mie scattering model

We demonstrate the use of low spatial and temporal coherence holography microscopy, based on the Lorenz-Mie model, using the standard tungsten-halogen lamp present in an inverted microscope. An optical model is put forward to incorporate the effect of spectral width and different incidence angles of the incident light determined by the aperture at the back focal plane of the condenser lens. The model is validated for 899 nm diameter polystyrene microspheres in glycerol, giving a resolution of 0.4% for the index of refraction and 2.2% for the diameter of the particles.

Double Recognition and Selective Extraction of Glycoprotein Based on the Molecular Imprinted Graphene Oxide and Boronate Affinity

Specific recognition and separation of glycoproteins from complex biological solutions is very important in clinical diagnostics considering the close relationship between glycoproteins with the occurrence of diverse diseases, but the lack of materials with high selectivity and superior capture capacity still makes it a challenge. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) based molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) possessing double recognition abilities have been synthesized and applied as highly efficient adsorbents for glycoprotein recognition and separation. Boronic acid functionalized graphene oxide (GO-APBA) was first prepared and a template glycoprotein (ovalbumin, OVA) was then immobilized onto the surface of GO-APBA through boronate affinity. An imprinting layer was subsequently deposited onto GO-APBA surface by a sol-gel polymerization of organic silanes in aqueous solution. After the removal of the template glycoprotein, 3D cavities with double recognition abilities toward OVA were obtained in the as-prepared imprinted materials (GO-APBA/MIPs) because of the combination of boronate affinity and molecularly imprinted spatial matched cavities. The obtained GO-APBA/MIPs exhibited superior specific recognition toward OVA with imprinted factor (α) as high as 9.5, significantly higher than the corresponding value (4.0) of GO/MIPs without the introduction of boronic acid groups. Meanwhile, because of the synergetic effect of large surface area of graphene and surface imprinting, high binding capacity and fast adsorption/elution rate of GO-APBA/MIPs toward OVA were demonstrated and the saturation binding capacity of GO-APBA/MIPs could reach 278 mg/g within 40 min. The outstanding recognizing behavior (high adsorption capacity, highly specific recognition, and rapid binding rate) coupled to the facile and environmentally friendly preparation procedure makes GO-APBA/MIPs promising in the recognition, separation, and analysis of glycoproteins in clinics in the future.