Biomimetic and bioorthogonal nanozymes for biomedical applications

Nanozymes mimic the function of enzymes, which drive essential intracellular chemical reactions that govern biological processes. They efficiently generate or degrade specific biomolecules that can initiate or inhibit biological processes, regulating cellular behaviors. Two approaches for utilizing nanozymes in intracellular chemistry have been reported. Biomimetic catalysis replicates the identical reactions of natural enzymes, and bioorthogonal catalysis enables chemistries inaccessible in cells. Various nanozymes based on nanomaterials and catalytic metals are employed to attain intended specific catalysis in cells either to mimic the enzymatic mechanism and kinetics or expand inaccessible chemistries. Each nanozyme approach has its own intrinsic advantages and limitations, making them complementary for diverse and specific applications. This review summarizes the strategies for intracellular catalysis and applications of biomimetic and bioorthogonal nanozymes, including a discussion of their limitations and future research directions.

Development of nanozyme based sensors as diagnostic tools in clinic applications: a review

Since 1970, many artificial enzymes that imitate the activity and structure of natural enzymes have been discovered. Nanozymes are a group of nanomaterials with enzyme-mimetic properties capable of catalyzing natural enzyme processes. Nanozymes have attracted great interest in biomedicine due to their excellent stability, rapid reactivity, and affordable cost. The enzyme-mimetic activities of nanozymes may be modulated by numerous parameters, including the oxidative state of metal ions, pH, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) level, and glutathione (GSH) concentration, indicating the tremendous potential for biological applications. This article delivers a comprehensive overview of the advances in the knowledge of nanozymes and the creation of unique and multifunctional nanozymes, and their biological applications. In addition, a future perspective of employing the as-designed nanozymes in biomedical and diagnostic applications is provided, and we also discuss the barriers and constraints for their further therapeutic use.

Organic-Inorganic Porphyrinoid Frameworks for Biomolecule Sensing

Porphyrinoids and their analogous compounds play an important role in biosensing applications on account of their unique and versatile catalytic, coordination, photophysical, and electrochemical properties. Their remarkable arrays of properties can be finely tuned by synthetically modifying the porphyrinoid ring and varying the various structural parameters such as peripheral functionalization, metal coordination, and covalent or physical conjugation with other organic or inorganic scaffolds such as nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks, and polymers. Porphyrinoids and their organic-inorganic conjugates are not only used as responsive materials but also utilized for the immobilization and embedding of biomolecules for applications in wearable devices, fast sensing devices, and other functional materials. The present review delineates the impact of different porphyrinoid conjugates on their physicochemical properties and their specificity as biosensors in a range of applications. The newest porphyrinoid types and their synthesis, modification, and functionalization are presented along with their advantages and performance improvements.

Molecular Hydrogen Improves Rice Storage Quality via Alleviating Lipid Deterioration and Maintaining Nutritional Values

Improvement of the storage quality of rice is a critical challenge for the scientific community. This study assesses the effects of the irrigation with hydrogen nanobubble water (HNW) on the storage quality of rice (Oryza sativa 'Huruan1212'). Compared with ditch water control, after one year of storage at 25 °C and 70% RH, the HNW-irrigated rice had higher contents of essential amino acids, especially lysine. Importantly, the generation of off-flavors in the stored rice was significantly decreased, which was confirmed by the lower levels of volatile substances, including pentanal, hexanal, heptanal, octanal, 1-octen-3-ol, and 2-heptanone. The subsequent results showed that the HNW-irrigated rice not only retained lower levels of free fatty acid values, but also had increased antioxidant capacity and decreased lipoxygenase activity and transcripts, thus resulting in decreased lipid peroxidation. This study opens a new window for the practical application of HNW irrigation in the production and subsequent storage of crops.

Positively Charged Gold Quantum Dots: An Nanozymatic "Off-On" Sensor for Thiocyanate Detection

The concentration of thiocyanate (SCN⁻) in bodily fluids is a good indicator of potential and severe health issues such as nasal bleeding, goiters, vertigo, unconsciousness, several inflammatory diseases, and cystic fibrosis. Herein, a visual SCN⁻ sensing method has been developed using the enzyme-like nature of positively charged gold quantum dots (Au QDs) mixed with 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂₎. This research also reports a new method of synthesizing positively charged Au QDs directly from gold nanoparticles through a hydrothermal process. Microscopic imaging has showed that the Au QDs were 3–5 nm in size, and the emission wavelength was at 438 nm. Au QDs did not display any enzyme-like nature while mixed up with TMB and H₂O₂. However, the nanozymatic activity of Au QDs appeared when SCN⁻ was included, leading to a very low detection limit (LOD) of 8 nM and 99–105% recovery in complex media. The steady-state kinetic reaction of Au QDs showed that Au QDs had a lower Michaelis–Menten constant (Km) toward H₂O₂ and TMB, which indicates that the Au QDs had a higher affinity for H₂O₂ and TMB than horseradish peroxidase (HRP). A mechanism study has revealed that the scavenging ability of hydroxyl (•OH) radicals by the SCN⁻ group plays an important role in enhancing the sensitivity in this study. The proposed nanozymatic “Off–On” SCN⁻ sensor was also successfully validated in commercial milk samples.

2D material-based peroxidase-mimicking nanozymes: catalytic mechanisms and bioapplications

The boom in nanotechnology brings new insights into the development of artificial enzymes (nanozymes) with ease of modification, lower manufacturing cost, and higher catalytic stability than natural enzymes. Among various nanomaterials, two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials exhibit promising enzyme-like properties for a plethora of bioapplications owing to their unique physicochemical characteristics of tuneable composition, ultrathin thickness, and huge specific surface area. Herein, we review the recent advances in several 2D material-based nanozymes, such as carbonaceous nanosheets, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), layered double hydroxides (LDHs), and transition metal oxides (TMOs), clarify the mechanisms of peroxidase (POD)-mimicking catalytic behaviors, and overview the potential bioapplications of 2D nanozymes.

Cu(ii)-assisted self-assembly of dicyandiamide-derived carbon dots: construction inspired from chemical evolution and its H2O2 sensing application

In the rapid development of artificial nanomaterials comparable to biological enzymes, we propose herein a novel concept for the construction of functional materials inspired from chemical evolution.

Single-Atom Catalyst Aggregates: Size-Matching is Critical to Electrocatalytic Performance in Sulfur Cathodes

Electrocatalysis is critical to the performance displayed by sulfur cathodes. However, the constituent electrocatalysts and the sulfur reactants have vastly different molecular sizes, which ultimately restrict electrocatalysis efficiency and hamper device performance. Herein, the authors report that aggregates of cobalt single-atom catalysts (SACs) attached to graphene via porphyrins can overcome the challenges associated with the catalyst/reactant size mismatch. Atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements show that the Co atoms present in the SAC aggregates exist as single atoms with spatially resolved dimensions that are commensurate the sulfur species found in sulfur cathodes and thus fully accessible to enable 100% atomic utilization efficiency in electrocatalysis. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the Co SAC aggregates can interact with the sulfur species in a synergistic manner that enhances the electrocatalytic effect and promote the performance of sulfur cathodes. For example, Li-S cells prepared from the Co SAC aggregates exhibit outstanding capacity retention (i.e., 505 mA h g-1 at 0.5 C after 600 cycles) and excellent rate capability (i.e., 648 mA h g-1 at 6 C). An ultrahigh area specific capacity of 12.52 mA h cm-2 is achieved at a high sulfur loading of 11.8 mg cm-2 .

Inorganic Nanozymes: Prospects for Disease Treatments and Detection Applications

In recent years, with the development of nanomaterials, a slice of nanomaterials has been demonstrated to possess high catalytic activity similar to natural enzymes and counter the dilemmas including easy inactivation and low yield natural of enzymes, which are labeled as nanozymes. The catalytic activity of nanozymes could be easily regulated by size, structure, surface modification and other factors. In comparison with natural enzymes, nanozymes featured with a more stable structure, economical preparation and preservation, diversity of functions and adjustable catalytic activity, thus becoming the potentially ideal substitute for natural enzymes. Generally, the are mainly three types containing metal oxide nanozymes, noble metal nanozymes and carbon-based nanozymes, owing various applications in biomedical, energy and environmental fields. In this review, to summarize the recent representative applications of nanozymes, and potentially explore the scientific problems in this field at the same time, we are going to discuss the catalytic mechanisms of diverse nanozymes, with the emphasis on their applications in the fields of tumor therapy, anti-inflammatory and biosensing, hoping to help and guide the future development of nanozymes.

Review on recent progress in metal-organic framework-based materials for fabricating electrochemical glucose sensors

Diabetes is a type of disease that threatens human health, which can be diagnosed based on the level of glucose in the blood. Recently, various MOF-based materials have been developed as efficient electrochemical glucose sensors because of their tunable pore channels, large specific surface area well dispersed metallic active sites, etc. In this review, the significance of glucose detection and the advantages of MOF-based materials for this application are primarily discussed. Then, the application of MOF-based materials can be categorized into two types of glucose sensors: enzymatic biosensors and non-enzymatic sensors. Finally, insights into the current research challenges and future breakthrough possibilities regarding electrochemical glucose sensors are considered.

Biomimetic electrochemical sensors: New horizons and challenges in biosensing applications

The urge to meet the ever-growing needs of sensing technology has spurred research to look for new alternatives to traditional analytical methods. In this scenario, the glucometer is the flagship of commercial electrochemical sensing platforms, combining selectivity, reliability and portability. However, other types of enzyme-based biosensors seldom achieve the market, in spite of the large and increasing number of publications. The reasons behind their commercial limitations concern enzyme denaturation, and the high costs associated with procedures for their extraction and purification. In this sense, biomimetic materials that seek to imitate the desired properties of natural enzymes and biological systems have come out as an appealing path for robust and sensitive electrochemical biosensors. We herein portray the historical background of these biomimicking materials, covering from their beginnings until the most impactful applications in the field of electrochemical sensing platforms. Throughout the discussion, we present and critically appraise the major benefits and the most significant drawbacks offered by the bioinspired systems categorized as Nanozymes, Synzymes, Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), Nanochannels, and Metal Complexes. Innovative strategies of fabrication and challenging applications are further reviewed and evaluated. In the end, we ponder over the prospects of this emerging field, assessing the most critical issues that shall be faced in the coming decade.

A novel copper-based metal-organic framework as a peroxidase-mimicking enzyme and its glucose chemiluminescence sensing application

A novel copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) with a large specific surface area and high porosity was synthesized. The Cu-MOF was a good peroxidase-mimicking enzyme and showed a high affinity with hydrogen peroxide in a wide pH range. The catalytic mechanism of Cu-MOF has been studied further based on comparing the characteristic of the Cu-MOF with some isomorphic MOFs. The catalytic activity center of Cu-MOF was determined to be the cupric ion rather than the ligand, which effectively promoted the generation of free radicals and electron transfer in the reaction progress. The high affinity of Cu-MOF to hydrogen peroxide proved it as an ideal catalyst for the chemiluminescence (CL) reaction involving hydrogen peroxide. Therefore, the CL method with high sensitivity could be established for detecting various substrates. A double-enzyme CL glucose biosensing platform was constructed for the determination of serum glucose employing the peroxidase-mimicking properties of Cu-MOF as well as glucose oxidase (GOx).

Lerf-Klinowski-type models of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide are robust in analyzing non-covalent functionalization with porphyrins

Graphene-based nanohybrids are good candidates for various applications. However, graphene exhibits some unwanted features such as low solubility in an aqueous solution or tendency to aggregate, limiting its potential applications. On the contrary, its derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO), have excellent properties and can be easily produced in large quantities. GO/RGO nanohybrids with porphyrins were shown to possess great potential in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production, pollutant photodegradation, optical sensing, or drug delivery. Despite the rapid progress in experimental research on the porphyrin-graphene hybrids some fundamental questions about the structures and the interaction between components in these systems still remain open. In this work, we combine detailed experimental and theoretical studies to investigate the nature of the interaction between the GO/RGO and two metal-free porphyrins 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl) porphyrin (TAPP) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl) porphyrin (TPPH)]. The two porphyrins form stable nanohybrids with GO/RGO support, although both porphyrins exhibited a slightly higher affinity to RGO. We validated finite, Lerf-Klinowski-type (Lerf et al. in J Phys Chem B 102:4477, 1998) structural models of GO ([Formula: see text]) and RGO ([Formula: see text]) and successfully used them in ab initio absorption spectra simulations to track back the origin of experimentally observed spectral features. We also investigated the nature of low-lying excited states with high-level wavefunction-based methods and shown that states' density becomes denser upon nanohybrid formation. The studied nanohybrids are non-emissive, and our study suggests that this is due to excited states that gain significant charge-transfer character. The presented efficient simulation protocol may ease the properties screening of new GO/RGO-nanohybrids.

Applications of DNA-nanozyme-based sensors

Since the discovery of the enzyme-like activities of nanomaterials, the study of nanozymes has become one of the most popular research frontiers of diverse areas including biosensors. DNA also plays a very important role in the construction of biosensors. Thus, the idea of combined applications of nanozymes with DNA (DNA-nanozyme) is very attractive for the development of nanozyme-based biosensors, which has attracted considerable interest of researchers. To date, many sensors based on DNA-functionalized or templated nanozymes have been reported for the detection of various targets and highly accelerated the development of nanozyme-based sensors. In this review, we summarize the main applications and advances of DNA-nanozyme-based sensors. Additionally, perspectives and challenges are also discussed at the end of the review.

The Role of Nanomaterials in Modulating the Structure and Function of Biomimetic Catalysts

Nanomaterial-incorporated enzyme mimics have so far been examined in various cases, and their properties are governed by the properties of both catalysts and materials. This review summarizes recent efforts in understanding the role of inorganic nanomaterials for modulating biomimetic catalytic performance. Firstly, the importance of enzyme mimics, and the necessity for tuning their catalysis will be outlined. Based on structural characteristics, these catalysts are divided into two types: traditional artificial enzymes, and novel nanomaterial-based enzyme mimics. Secondly, the mechanisms on how nano-sized materials interact with these catalysts will be examined. Intriguingly, incorporating various nanomaterials into biomimetic catalysts may provide a convenient and highly efficient method for the modulation of activities as well as stabilities or introduce new and attractive features. Finally, the perspectives of the main challenges and future opportunities in the areas of nanomaterial-incorporated biomimetic catalysis will be discussed. In this regard, nanomaterials as a kind of promising scaffold for tuning catalysis will attract more and more attention and be practically applied in numerous fields.

Iron-Based Nanozymes in Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

Iron-based nanozymes are currently one of the few clinical inorganic nanoparticles for disease diagnosis and treatment. Overcoming the shortcomings of natural enzymes, such as easy inactivation and low yield, combined with their special nanometer properties and magnetic functions, iron-based nanozymes have broad prospects in biomedicine. This minireview summarizes their preparation, biological activity, catalytic mechanism, and applications in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Finally, challenges to their future development and the trends of iron-based nanozymes are discussed. The purpose of this minireview is to better understand and reasonably speculate on the rational design of iron-based nanozymes as an increasingly important new paradigm for diagnostics.

Nanozyme-based electrochemical biosensors for disease biomarker detection

In recent years, a new group of nanomaterials named nanozymes that exhibit enzyme-mimicking catalytic activity has emerged as a promising alternative to natural enzymes. Nanozymes can address some of the intrinsic limitations of natural enzymes such as high cost, low stability, difficulty in storage, and specific working conditions (i.e., narrow substrate, temperature and pH ranges). Thus, synthesis and applications of hybrid and stimuli-responsive advanced nanozymes could revolutionize the current practice in life sciences and biosensor applications. On the other hand, electrochemical biosensors have long been used as an efficient way for quantitative detection of analytes (biomarkers) of interest. As such, the use of nanozymes in electrochemical biosensors is particularly important to achieve low cost and stable biosensors for prognostics, diagnostics, and therapeutic monitoring of diseases. Herein, we summarize the recent advances in the synthesis and classification of common nanozymes and their application in electrochemical biosensor development. After briefly overviewing the applications of nanozymes in non-electrochemical-based biomolecular sensing systems, we thoroughly discuss the state-of-the-art advances in nanozyme-based electrochemical biosensors, including genosensors, immunosensors, cytosensors and aptasensors. The applications of nanozymes in microfluidic-based assays are also discussed separately. We also highlight the challenges of nanozyme-based electrochemical biosensors and provide some possible strategies to address these limitations. Finally, future perspectives on the development of nanozyme-based electrochemical biosensors for disease biomarker detection are presented. We envisage that standardization of nanozymes and their fabrication process may bring a paradigm shift in biomolecular sensing by fabricating highly specific, multi-enzyme mimicking nanozymes for highly sensitive, selective, and low-biofouling electrochemical biosensors.

Controlled/“living” radical polymerization-based signal amplification strategies for biosensing

Controlled/“living” radical polymerization-based signal amplification strategies and their applications in highly sensitive biosensing of clinically relevant biomolecules are reviewed.

Redox- and EPR-Active Graphene Diiron Complex Nanocomposite

A mixed valence diiron(II/III) complex with the ligand 2,6-bis{bis[(2-pyridinylmethyl)amino]methyl}phenol (bppH) has been covalently anchored onto graphene using a mild in situ microwave-assisted diazonium coupling through an aryl amino precursor and isoamyl nitrite. A dinuclear iron complex is then formed by complexation of the grafted bppH-graphene material with iron(II) in the presence of dioxygen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy confirm the formation of the anchored ligand and derivative diiron complexes. Semiquantitative XPS analysis shows an average bppH ligand bulk loading of 0.33 mmol/g, corresponding to a significant 20.7 wt % of the functionalized material consisting of grafted moieties. EPR measurements reveal the existence of a strong isotropic S = 1/2 spin center associated with the graphene lattice, together with a much weaker S = 5/2 signal, associated with the iron(III) center of the grafted complex. The grafted complex is redox-active with surface-confined Fe^IIFe^II → Fe^IIFe^III (+0.56 V vs NHE), Fe^IIFe^III → Fe^IIIFe^III (+0.73 V), and Fe^IIIFe^III → Fe^IIIFe^IV (+0.95 V) redox processes accessible, with an estimated surface coverage of 58 pmol cm^-2 established from the electrochemical measurements.

Nanozymes: Classification, Catalytic Mechanisms, Activity Regulation, and Applications

Because of the high catalytic activities and substrate specificity, natural enzymes have been widely used in industrial, medical, and biological fields, etc. Although promising, they often suffer from intrinsic shortcomings such as high cost, low operational stability, and difficulties of recycling. To overcome these shortcomings, researchers have been devoted to the exploration of artificial enzyme mimics for a long time. Since the discovery of ferromagnetic nanoparticles with intrinsic horseradish peroxidase-like activity in 2007, a large amount of studies on nanozymes have been constantly emerging in the next decade. Nanozymes are one kind of nanomaterials with enzymatic catalytic properties. Compared with natural enzymes, nanozymes have the advantages such as low cost, high stability and durability, which have been widely used in industrial, medical, and biological fields. A thorough understanding of the possible catalytic mechanisms will contribute to the development of novel and high-efficient nanozymes, and the rational regulations of the activities of nanozymes are of great significance. In this review, we systematically introduce the classification, catalytic mechanism, activity regulation as well as recent research progress of nanozymes in the field of biosensing, environmental protection, and disease treatments, etc. in the past years. We also propose the current challenges of nanozymes as well as their future research focus. We anticipate this review may be of significance for the field to understand the properties of nanozymes and the development of novel nanomaterials with enzyme mimicking activities.

A review on graphene-based nanocomposites for electrochemical and fluorescent biosensors

Biosensors with high sensitivity, selectivity and a low limit of detection, reaching nano/picomolar concentrations of biomolecules, are important to the medical sciences and healthcare industry for evaluating physiological and metabolic parameters.

Nanomaterials with enzyme-like characteristics (nanozymes): next-generation artificial enzymes (II)

An updated comprehensive review to help researchers understand nanozymes better and in turn to advance the field.

Functional nanomaterials with unique enzyme-like characteristics for sensing applications

We highlight the recent developments in functional nanomaterials with unique enzyme-like characteristics for sensing applications.

Highly efficient redox reaction between potassium permanganate and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine for application in hydrogen peroxide based colorimetric assays

Potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) is one of the most important oxidants, which plays important roles in many fields. Here, we found that KMnO₄ could directly induce the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate an oxidized product with a color change. This redox reaction is highly efficient, and 1 μM KMnO₄ is enough to cause detectable changes in the absorbance signal. Meanwhile, this reaction is very fast and the generated blue product can stabilize for a relatively long period, which has great advantages in practical applications. Since hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is able to react with KMnO₄ under acidic conditions, the KMnO₄-TMB system can be used for the detection of H₂O₂; the absorbance signal induced by 5 μM H₂O₂ can be easily detected in this method. Meanwhile, the KMnO₄-TMB system can also be used for the detection of glucose by monitoring the generation of H₂O₂, which is the main product of glucose oxidation; this method permits detection of concentrations as low as 10 μM glucose, and the sensitivity is comparable to or higher than most peroxidase mimetic based methods, but avoiding the preparation and storage of the nanomaterials. Furthermore, the KMnO₄-TMB system can even be used for analyzing glucose in serum samples, which can also be expected to be used in immunoassays.

The redox reaction between potassium permanganate and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine is fast and highly efficient, which can be used for different biosensing.

Dual-mode fluorescent and colorimetric immunoassay for the ultrasensitive detection of alpha-fetoprotein in serum samples

We present a novel dual-mode fluorescent and colorimetric immunosensor based on conventional immunoassay platforms by utilizing a gold nanoflower (AuNF)-loaded fluorescein molecule (AuNF@Fluorescein) as signal output. The AuNFs were modified with thiolated carboxyl ligand, which consisted of a hydrophobic alkane chain as hydrophobic wallet for fluorescein encapsulation, a tetra (ethylene glycol) unit for biocompatibility and solubility, and a functional carboxyl group for the conjugation of biorecognition molecules for biosensing. The resultant AuNFs showed a high loading capacity of 3.74 × 10⁶ fluorescein molecules per AuNF because of its flower-like shape with many complex branches. By adjusting the solution pH to 8.0, the fluorescein molecules can almost entirely be released from the hydrophobic wallet of AuNF@Fluorescein, which led to strong fluorescent-signal amplification. Under the optimal detection conditions, the proposed immunoassay based on fluorescent signal exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) detection, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 29 fg/mL. This value is approximately 9.3 × 10³-fold lower than that of corresponding horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-based immunoassay (LOD = 270 pg/mL). The fluorescein molecule also had intrinsic peroxidase-like activity to catalyze 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine oxidation with hydrogen peroxide for colorimetric signal. The proposed method with colorimetric mode further exhibited a sensitivity with a LOD of 17.7 pg/mL, which is about 15-fold lower than that of conventional HRP-based immunoassay. The recoveries of the proposed dual-mode immunoassay for AFP spiked serum samples ranged within 89.85%-100.0%, with the coefficient of variations ranging from 0.5% to 2.4%, indicating acceptable accuracy and precision for AFP quantitative detection. The reliability of the developed dual-mode immunoassay was further compared with a commercial chemiluminescence immunoassay kit by analyzing 20 clinical serum samples, showing that the two methods well agreed with each other, with high correlation coefficients of 0.997 and 0.986 based on recorded fluorescence and colorimetric signals, respectively. In summary, the proposed method was highly suitable for the ultrasensitive analysis of biomarkers or infectious diseases by fluorescence mode and can be used for routine clinical diagnosis by colorimetric mode.

Mixed-solvent liquid exfoliated MoS2 NPs as peroxidase mimetics for colorimetric detection of H2O2 and glucose

Ultra-small molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles (MoS₂ NPs) were prepared by a facile liquid exfoliation method with ethanol/water as the solvent. The produced MoS₂ NPs were of high purity due to the easily removable ethanol/water solution. The prepared MoS₂ NPs exhibited an intrinsic peroxidase-like activity in analogy to that of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). A custom-made spectrometer was employed to investigate the peroxidase-like activity of MoS₂ NPs in the presence of H₂O₂ and glucose. The change in absorption detected from MoS₂ NPs is proportional to the amount of target. The calibration curve of H₂O₂ and glucose shows a good relationship between the concentration of target and the change in the absorption of MoS₂ NPs. The limit of detection of H₂O₂ and glucose achieved by this method could approach 1.25 μM and 7 μM respectively. This method has been applied for the detection of glucose in serum from humans. Therefore, these produced MoS₂ NPs offer an alternative high-efficiency and economic way to detect diabetes.

Ultra-small molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles (MoS₂ NPs) prepared by a facile liquid exfoliation method is capable of detecting the presence of H₂O₂ and glucose. This novel colorimetric method offers an alternative way to detect diabetes.

Detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose by using Tb2(MoO4)3 nanoplates as peroxidase mimics

Tb₂(MoO₄)₃ nanostructures are demonstrated for the first time to have an intrinsic peroxidase-like activity. Tb₂(MoO₄)₃ nanoplates could efficiently catalyse the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate a blue dye (with an absorbance maximum at 652nm) in the presence of H₂O₂. Based on the highly efficient catalytic of Tb₂(MoO₄)₃ nanoplates, a novel system for optical determination of H₂O₂ and glucose was successfully established under optimized conditions. The assay had 0.0.08μM and 0.1μM detection limit for H₂O₂ and glucose, respectively. In our opinion, this enzyme mimetic has a potential to use in other oxidase based assays.

Advances in biotechnological synthetic applications of carbon nanostructured systems

In the last few years carbon nanostructures have been applied for the immobilization of enzymes and biomimetic organo-metallic species useful for biotechnological applications. The nature of the support and the method of immobilization are responsible for the stability, reactivity and selectivity of the system. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in the use of carbon nanostructures, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanorods, fullerene and graphene for the preparation of biocatalytic and biomimetic systems and for their application in the development of green chemical processes.

Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Detection of Glycoprotein Based on Boronate Affinity Sandwich Assay and Signal Amplification with Functionalized SiO2@Au Nanocomposites

Herein we propose a multiple signal amplification strategy designed for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of glycoproteins. This approach introduces a new type of boronate-affinity sandwich assay (BASA), which was fabricated by using gold nanoparticles combined with reduced graphene oxide (AuNPs-GO) to modify sensing surface for accelerating electron transfer, the composite of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) including 4-vinylphenylboronic acid (VPBA) for specific capturing glycoproteins, and SiO₂ nanoparticles carried gold nanoparticles (SiO₂@Au) labeled with 6-ferrocenylhexanethiol (FcHT) and 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (MPBA) (SiO₂@Au/FcHT/MPBA) as tracing tag for binding glycoprotein and generating electrochemical signal. As a sandwich-type sensing, the SiO₂@Au/FcHT/MPBA was captured by glycoprotein on the surface of imprinting film for further electrochemical detection in 0.1 M PBS (pH 7.4). Using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a model glycoprotein, the proposed approach exhibited a wide linear range from 1 pg/mL to 100 ng/mL, with a low detection limit of 0.57 pg/mL. To the best of our knowledge, this is first report of a multiple signal amplification approach based on boronate-affinity molecularly imprinted polymer and SiO₂@Au/FcHT/MPBA, exhibiting greatly enhanced sensitivity for glycoprotein detection. Furthermore, the newly constructed BASA based glycoprotein sensor demonstrated HRP detection in real sample, such as human serum, suggesting its promising prospects in clinical diagnostics.

Protein-Directed Synthesis of Bifunctional Adsorbent-Catalytic Hemin-Graphene Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Removal of Dye Pollutants via Synergistic Adsorption and Degradation

Herein, for the first time, we report a "green", one-pot reduction/decoration method for the synthesis of bifunctional adsorbent-catalytic hemin-graphene nanosheets by using a common available protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA) as both a reductant and a stabilizer. Our prepared nanosheets are highly stable and possess intrinsic peroxidase-like catalytic activity due to the decoration of BSA and hemin. Furthermore, benefiting from the combined advantages of graphene and BSA, these nanosheets are able to efficiently adsorb dye pollutants from aqueous solution. More importantly, due to their adsorption and catalytic ability, these adsorbent-catalytic nanosheets can be applied to highly efficient dye removal via synergistic adsorption and degradation. Specifically, our catalysts can easily bring organic dyes to their surface by adsorption, and then activate H₂O₂ to generate hydroxyl radicals, leading to the degradation of the dyes. Such catalytic mechanism of our as-prepared nanosheets was analogous to that of natural enzymes, in which the extremely high catalytic efficiency is largely dependent upon their ability to bring substrates in close proximity to the active sites of enzymes. Our finding may open new potential applications of hemin-graphene hybrid nanosheets in environmental chemistry, biotechnology, and medicine.

An Overview of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene for Biosensing Applications

With the development of carbon nanomaterials in recent years, there has been an explosion of interests in using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene for developing new biosensors. It is believed that employing CNTs and graphene as sensor components can make sensors more reliable, accurate, and fast due to their remarkable properties. Depending on the types of target molecular, different strategies can be applied to design sensor device. This review article summarized the important progress in developing CNT- and graphene-based electrochemical biosensors, field-effect transistor biosensors, and optical biosensors. Although CNTs and graphene have led to some groundbreaking discoveries, challenges are still remained and the state-of-the-art sensors are far from a practical application. As a conclusion, future effort has to be made through an interdisciplinary platform, including materials science, biology, and electric engineering.

PEGylated molybdenum dichalcogenide (PEG-MoS2) nanosheets with enhanced peroxidase-like activity for the colorimetric detection of H2O2

Colorimetric detection of H₂O₂ using biocompatible and dispersible PEG-MoS₂ nanosheets with enhanced peroxidase-like catalytic activity.