Extremozyme-Based Biosensors for Environmental Pollution Monitoring: Recent Developments

Extremozymes combine high specificity and sensitivity with the ability to withstand extreme operational conditions. This work presents an overview of extremozymes that show potential for environmental monitoring devices and outlines the latest advances in biosensors utilizing these unique molecules. The characteristics of various extremozymes described so far are presented, underlining their stability and operational conditions that make them attractive for biosensing. The biosensor design is discussed based on the detection of photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides as a case study. Several biosensors for the detection of pesticides, heavy metals, and phenols are presented in more detail to highlight interesting substrate specificity, applications or immobilization methods. Compared to mesophilic enzymes, the integration of extremozymes in biosensors faces additional challenges related to lower availability and high production costs. The use of extremozymes in biosensing does not parallel their success in industrial applications. In recent years, the "collection" of recognition elements was enriched by extremozymes with interesting selectivity and by thermostable chimeras. The perspectives for biosensor development are exciting, considering also the progress in genetic editing for the oriented immobilization of enzymes, efficient folding, and better electron transport. Stability, production costs and immobilization at sensing interfaces must be improved to encourage wider applications of extremozymes in biosensors.

Platform-agnostic electrochemical sensing app and companion potentiostat

Electrochemical sensing is ubiquitous in a number of fields ranging from biosensing, to environmental monitoring through to food safety and battery or corrosion characterisation. Whereas conventional potentiostats are ideal to develop assays in laboratory settings, they are in general, not well-suited for field work due to their size and power requirements. To address this need, a number of portable battery-operated potentiostats have been proposed over the years. However, most open source solutions do not take full advantage of integrated circuit (IC) potentiostats, a rapidly evolving field. This is partly due to the constraining requirements inherent to the development of dedicated interfaces, such as apps, to address and control a set of common electrochemical sensing parameters. Here we propose the PocketEC, a universal app that has all the functionalities to interface with potentiostat ICs through a user defined property file. The versatility of PocketEC, developed with an assay developer mindset, was demonstrated by interfacing it, via Bluetooth, to the ADuCM355 evaluation board, the open-source DStat potentiostat and the Voyager board, a custom-built, small footprint potentiostat based around the LMP91000 chip. The Voyager board is presented here for the first time. Data obtained using a standard redox probe, Ferrocene Carboxylic Acid (FCA) and a silver ion assay using anodic stripping multi-step amperometry were in good agreement with analogous measurements using a bench top potentiostat. Combined with its Voyager board companion, the PocketEC app can be used directly for a number of wearable or portable electrochemical sensing applications. Importantly, the versatility of the app makes it a candidate of choice for the development of future portable potentiostats. Finally, the app is available to download on the Google Play store and the source codes and design files for the PocketEC app and the Voyager board are shared via Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 3.0) to promote the development of novel portable or wearable applications based on electrochemical sensing.

Magnetic nanoparticles-induced neurotoxicity and oxidative stress in brain of rainbow trout: Mitigation by ulexite through modulation of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities

The prevalent exposition of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) to the aquatic medium and their negative influence on human life is one of the major concerns global. Stress mechanization, as a non-specific and pervasive response, involves all physiological systems, particularly the closely interconnected neuroendocrine and immune systems. In this study, which was designed to obtain more data on the biological effects of ulexit, which prevents oxidative DNA damage by protecting against toxicity damage and offers new antioxidant roles. The concomitant use of ulexite (UX, as 18.75 mg/l) as a natural therapeutic agent against exposure to magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-MNPs/0.013 ml/l) on Oncorhynchus mykiss was investigated for 96 h. The brain tissues were taken at the 48th and 96th hours of the trial period, the effects on neurotoxic, pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, antioxidant immune system, DNA and apoptosis mechanisms were analyzed. In the present study, it was determined that AChE activity and BDNF level in the brain tissue decreased over time in the Fe₃O₄-MNPs group compared to the control, and UX tried to depress this inhibition. While inhibition was determined in antioxidant system biomarkers (SOD, CAT, GPx, and GSH values), an induction was observed in lipid peroxidation indicators (MDA and MPO values) in Fe₃O₄-MNPs applied group. The same group data showed that TNF-α, IL-6, 8-OHdG and caspase-3 levels were increased, but Nrf-2 levels were decreased. The alterations in all biomarkers were found to be significant at the p < 0.05 level. In general, it was determined that Fe₃O₄-MNPs caused stress in O. mykiss and UX exhibited a positive effect on this stress management.

A 3D printable adapter for solid-state fluorescence measurements: the case of an immobilized enzymatic bioreceptor for organophosphate pesticides detection

The widespread use of pesticides in the last decades and their accumulation into the environment gave rise to major environmental and human health concerns. To address this topic, the scientific community pointed out the need to develop methodologies to detect and measure the presence of pesticides in different matrices. Biosensors have been recently explored as fast, easy, and sensitive methods for direct organophosphate pesticides monitoring. Thus, the present work aimed at designing and testing a 3D printed adapter useful on different equipment, and a membrane support to immobilize the esterase-2 from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius (EST2) bioreceptor. The latter is labelled with the IAEDANS, a bright fluorescent probe. EST2 was selected since it shows a high specificity toward paraoxon. Our results showed good stability and replicability, with an increasing linear fluorescent intensity recorded from 15 to 150 pmol of labelled EST2. Linearity of data was also observed when using the immobilized labelled EST2 to detect increasing amounts of paraoxon, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.09 pmol. This LOD value reveals the high sensitivity of our membrane support when mounted on the 3D adapter, comparable to modern methods using robotic workstations. Notably, the use of an independent support significantly simplified the manipulation of the membrane during experimental procedures and enabled it to match the specificities of different systems. In sum, this work emphasizes the advantages of using 3D printed accessories adapted to respond to the newest research needs.

Recent advancements in the detection of organophosphate pesticides: a review

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are generally utilized for the protection of crops from pests. Because the use of OPPs in various agricultural operations has expanded dramatically, precise monitoring of their concentration levels has become the critical issue, which will help in the protection of ecological systems and food supply. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified them as extremely dangerous chemical compounds. Taking their immense use and toxicity into consideration, the development of easy, rapid and highly sensitive techniques is necessary. Despite the fact that there are numerous conventional ways for detecting OPPs, the development of portable sensors is required to make routine analysis considerably more convenient. Some of these advanced techniques include colorimetric sensors, fluorescence sensors, molecular imprinted polymer-based sensors, and surface plasmon resonance-based sensors. This review article specifically focuses on the colorimetric, fluorescence and electrochemical sensors. In this article, the sensing strategies of these developed sensors, analytical conditions and their respective limit of detection are compiled.

Electrochemical detection of organophosphorus pesticides based on amino acids-conjugated P3TAA-modified electrodes

In this work, amino acids (AAs) including serine (S), histidine (H) and glutamic acid (E)-conjugated poly(3-thiophene acetate acid) (P3TAA) were synthesized to promote the catalytic hydrolysis and in situ electrochemical detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs). The hydrolysis of OPs followed the mechanism of proton transfer relay composed of AAs of S, H, E, called the "catalytic triad", found in biomimetic hydrolases. P3TAA was used as a carrier to attach S, H, E, and these AA sites have the hydrolysis activity of Ops; the polymer P3TAA-AAs behaved like biomimetic enzymes. After the hydrolysis of OPs (e.g., methyl paraoxon, ethyl paraoxon and methyl parathion), p-nitrophenol (PNP) was generated, which can be detected electrochemically. Herein, an electrochemical method using P3TAA-conjugated S, H, E-modified electrodes for the determination of OPs was developed. OPs can be quantified by the electrochemical responses of PNP. This technique was selective toward OPs with the p-nitrophenol group. The detection limit of OPs (methyl paraoxon, methyl parathion and ethyl paraoxon) reached 0.5 μM. This detection technique was successfully applied to the detection of OPs in real samples with high detection accuracy.

Electrochemical Immunosensor for Detection of CCR4 Cancer Biomarker in Human Serum: An Alternative Strategy for Modification of Disposable ITO Electrode

Herein, a new strategy for the fabrication of a sensitive immunosensor capable of determination of CC Chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) in complex serum samples is developed through the polymer modification on the disposable indium tin oxide electrode. Anti-CCR4 antibodies, which are utilized as sensing biomolecules, are covalently attached on the succinimide groups of polypyrrole polymer (PPyr-CSsg). The constructed immunosensor illustrates promising performances for the quantification of CCR4 antigen, with a linear detection range of 0.024-12 pg mL^-1 and a low detection limit of 7.3 fg mL^-1 , calculated at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. In addition, the impedimetric immunosensor displays a very successful analytical performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, repeatability, reproducibility, and long-term stability as well as successful applicability for the accurate quantification of CCR4 in human serum samples. The constructed immunosensor is successfully used for quantification of CCR4 antigen in human serums. In addition, the immunosensor displays only 27.54% loss in its initial signal after nine weeks storage at 4 °C. Moreover, the fabricated immunosensor is economical, highly sensitive, and selective for CCR4 antigen detection, and suitable for potential application in clinical diagnosis.

Rapid on-site and naked-eye detection of common nitro pesticides with ionic liquids

Rapid 'in-field' detection of environmentally hazardous organophosphorus and nitro-containing pesticides is highly essential due to the lethal effects caused by the inhibition of the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In our present study, we demonstrate a novel sensing approach for the simultaneous analysis of five widely used pesticides (methyl parathion, pendimethalin, dicloran, trifluralin, and PCNB) based on the Meisenheimer complex formation between polynitro aromatic compounds (pesticides) and a nucleophile. This colorimetric determination of pesticides involves the use of an ionic liquid, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH), as the nucleophile, which is titrated against different concentrations of pesticides. The addition of TBAOH to the solutions of pesticides results in the formation of intensely colored complexes, which are visualized using UV-vis and NMR spectroscopies allowing the identification of new bands and peaks corresponding to the formation of Meisenheimer complexes. The limit of detection (LOD) for targeted pesticides was found to be in the range of 0.67-10 μM. Furthermore, the practical application of this method is demonstrated by developing different paper-based sensors. Therefore, the strategy proposed here not only serves as a valuable tool that allows unskilled people to detect hazardous pesticides in agricultural products 'on-site' but also offers a fast and convenient protocol for the identification of dangerous nitro-containing polyaromatic groups like nitro explosives.

An enzyme inhibition-based lab-in-a-syringe device for point-of-need determination of pesticides

An enzyme inhibition-based lab-in-a-syringe (EI-LIS) device was developed by integrating a 1-naphthol-linked bi-enzymatic reaction (sensor core) into the LIS (sensor device) for point-of-need monitoring of pesticide residues.

CdTe QD-based inhibition and reactivation assay of acetylcholinesterase for the detection of organophosphorus pesticides

An enzyme immobilized glutathione (GSH)-capped CdTe quantum dot (QD)-based fluorescence assay has been developed for monitoring organophosphate pesticides.