A facile ultrasensitive detection of MC-LR toxin via a real-time assembled aptasensor of plasmonic graphene oxide

Advancements in SERS based systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment for detection of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables with pesticide residues pose a serious public health risk. Since 2022, 3 million people worldwide have been poisoned by pesticides annually, with a 20 % fatality rate. This review provides an overview of current research on detecting pesticide residues in produce, focusing on the potential of SERS-based aptasensor. These sensors offer improved efficiency and accuracy in pesticide analysis, ensuring the safety of fruits and vegetables. The review also discusses essential techniques for efficient aptamer production, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. It emphasizes the benefits and challenges of using SERS-based aptasensor, particularly the need for enhanced anti-interference capabilities and the development of intelligent sensors for on-site detection without extensive sample preparation. This comprehensive review is a great resource that can help with future developments in pesticide residue analysis, food safety, and consumer health protection in contemporary agriculture.

Dye-sensitized NiO photocathode sensor based on signal-sensitive change strategy for MC-LR detection

A novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for the detection of microcystic toxins (MC-LR) was developed on the basis of signal-sensitive change strategy. NiO nanoarray as a basic photoactive material was grown directly on the ITO glass electrode via calcination after hydrothermal reaction, while dye N719 was used to sensitize the electrode for enhancing visible light absorption, and the first signal-on stage was obtained. In the meantime, p-type Cu2O was applied as the signal probe attached to probe DNA (DNA2) to improve the sensitivity, and the second "signal-on" stage appeared because of its synergistic effect with NiO nanoarrays. The PEC signal decreases after the target analyte MC-LR is modified on the electrode due to the stronger affinity between MC-LR and its complementary aptamer DNA; part of the Cu2O-DNA2 will dissociate from the electrode. This sensitive signal change strategy allows the detection limit of the MC-LR sensor to be as low as 1.7 pM, which offers an optional method for the sensitive and selective detection of other target molecules, with potential applications in environmental monitoring and toxin determination.

CeO2 nanocages with tetra-enzyme mimetic activities for dual-channel ratiometric colorimetric detection of microcystins-LR

BACKGROUND

Microcystin-leucine-arginine (MC-LR) produced by various cyanobacteria during harmful algal bloom poses serious threats to drinking water safety and human health. Conventional chromatography-based detection methods require expensive instruments and complicated sample pretreatment, limiting their application for on-site detection. Colorimetric aptasensors are simple and rapid, and are amenable to fast detection. However, they provide only one output signal, resulting in poor sensitivity and accuracy. Dual-channel ratiometric colorimetric method based on the peroxidase-like activity of nanozyme can achieve self-calibration by recording two reverse signals, providing significantly enhanced sensitivity and accuracy.

RESULTS

CeO2 nanocages (CeO2 NCs) with tetra-enzyme mimetic activities (oxidase-, peroxidase-, catalase- and superoxide dismutase-like activities) were facilely synthesized using zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) as sacrificial template. The peroxidase-like activity of CeO2 NCs can be regulated by DNA, and it showed opposite response to two chromogenic substrates (2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)), which was mainly attributed to the changed affinity. On the basis of MC-LR aptamer-tunable peroxidase-like activity of CeO2 NCs in TMB and ABTS channel, a dual-channel ratiometric colorimetric aptasensor was constructed for detection of MC-LR. Compared with conventional single-signal colorimetric assays, the proposed method showed lower limit of detection (0.66 pg mL-1) and significantly enhanced sensitivity. Moreover, the practicability of the ratiometric colorimetric assay was demonstrated by detecting MC-LR in real water samples, and satisfactory recoveries (94.9-101.9 %) and low relative standard deviations (1.6-6.3 %) were obtained.

SIGNIFICANCE

This work presents a nanozyme-based ratiometric colorimetric aptasensor for MC-LR detection by recording the reverse responses of two chromogenic reactions. Benefiting from the self-calibration function, the method can achieve higher sensitivity and accuracy. The short detection time and practical application in real water samples show great potential for environmental monitoring.

Synthesis of silica-encapsulated tetraphenylethylene with aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer for sensitively sensing microcystin-LR

The reported organic electrochemiluminescence (ECL) luminophors for the detection of various markers often suffer from intermolecular π-π stacking-induced luminophore quenching. Herein, we demonstrate one-pot synthesis of a new aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) emitter (i.e., TPE@SiO2/rGO composite) for sensitive measurement of microcystin-leucine arginine (MC-LR). The TPE@SiO2/rGO composite is constructed by embedding the silica-encapsuled 1,1,2,2-tetra(4-carboxylphenyl)ethylene (TPE) in the reduced graphene oxide. In comparison with the monomer TPE, this composite exhibit high luminescence efficiency and strong ECL emission, because the AIECL phenomenon triggered by the spatial confinement effect in the SiO2 cage induces the restriction of the internal motion and vibration of molecules. Notably, this composite has distinct advantages of easy preparation, simple functionalization, and stable luminescence. Especially, the TPE@SiO2/rGO-based ECL-RET system exhibits a high quenching efficiency (ΦET) of 69.7%. When target MC-LR is present, it triggers DNA strand displacement reaction (SDR), inducing the quenching of the ECL signal of TPE@SiO2/rGO composite due to ECL resonance energy transfer between TPE@SiO2/rGO composite and methylene blue (MB). The proposed biosensor enables highly sensitive, low-cost, and robust measurement of MC-LR with a large dynamic range of 7 orders of magnitude and a detection limit of 3.78 fg/mL, and it displays excellent detection performance in complex biological matrices, holding potential applications in food safety and water monitoring.

Advances in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technology for detection of foodborne pathogens

Rapid control and prevention of diseases caused by foodborne pathogens is one of the existing food safety regulatory issues faced by various countries and has received wide attention from all sectors of society. The development of rapid and reliable detection methods for foodborne pathogens remains a hot research area for food safety and public health because of the limitations of complex steps, time-consuming, low sensitivity, or poor selectivity of commonly used methods. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), as a novel spectroscopic technique, has the advantages of high sensitivity, selectivity, rapid and nondestructive detection and has exhibited broad application prospects in the determination of pathogenic bacteria. In this study, the enhancement mechanisms of SERS are briefly introduced, then the characteristics and properties of liquid-phase, rigid solid-phase, and flexible solid-phase are categorized. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of the advances in label-free or label-based SERS strategies and SERS-compatible techniques for the detection of foodborne pathogens is provided, and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods are reviewed. Finally, the current challenges of SERS technology applied in practical applications are listed, and the possible development trends of SERS in the field of foodborne pathogens detection in the future are discussed.

Nanoflowers: A New Approach of Enzyme Immobilization

Enzymes are biocatalysts known for versatility, selectivity, and brand operating conditions compared to chemical catalysts. However, there are limitations to their large-scale application, such as the high costs of enzymes and their low stability under extreme reaction conditions. Immobilization techniques can efficiently solve these problems; nevertheless, most current methods lead to a significant loss of enzymatic activity and require several steps of activation and functionalization of the supports. In this context, a new form of immobilization has been studied: forming organic-inorganic hybrids between metal phosphates as inorganic parts and enzymes as organic parts. Compared to traditional immobilization methods, the advantages of these nanomaterials are high surface area, simplicity of synthesis, high stability, and catalytic activity. The current study presents an overview of organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers and their applications in enzymatic catalysis.