ABSTRACT
The catalytic responses obtained with step-by-step neutravidin-biotin deposition of successive monolayers of HRP are analyzed by means of cyclic voltammetry. The theoretical tools that have been developed allowed full characterization of the multilayered HRP coatings by means of a combination between closed-form analysis of limiting behaviors and finite difference numerical computations. An analysis of the experiments in which the number of monolayers was extended to 16 allowed an approximate determination of the average thickness of each monolayer, pointing to a compact arrangement of neutravidin and biotinylated HRP. The piling up of so many monolayers on the electrode allowed an improvement of the catalytic current by a factor of ca. 10, leading to very good sensitivities in term of cosubstrate detection.
Subject(s)
Horseradish Peroxidase/chemistry , Avidin/chemistry , Biosensing Techniques , Biotin/chemistry , Catalysis , Hydrogen Peroxide/chemistry , Models, Theoretical , Oxidation-Reduction , Sensitivity and Specificity , Surface PropertiesABSTRACT
In this work, monolayers of metal complexes were covalently attached to the surface of carbon electrodes with the goal of binding monolayers of histidine-tagged proteins with a controlled molecular orientation and a maintained biological activity. In this novel method, which is simple, versatile, and efficient, the covalent attachment was accomplished in a single step by the electrochemical reduction of aryl diazonium ions that were substituted with a nitrilotriacetic (NTA) or an imminodiacetic (IDA) ligand at the para position. The transient aryl radicals that were generated in the reduction were grafted to the surfaces of glassy carbon, highly oriented pyrolitic graphite, and graphite-based screen-printed electrodes, producing dense monolayers of the ligands. The NTA- and IDA-modified electrodes were shown to efficiently chelate Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions. The presence of the metal was established using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemistry. Surface coverages of the ligands were indirectly determined from the electroactivity of the copper(II) complex formed on the electrode surface. Studies on the effect of electrodeposition time and potential showed that, at sufficiently negative potentials, the surface coverage reached a saturating value in less than 2 min of electrodeposition time, which corresponds to the formation of a close-packed monolayer of ligand on the electrode surface. Once loaded with a metal ion, the modified electrode was able to bind specifically to histidine-tagged proteins such as the horseradish peroxidase (His-HRP) or to an enhanced, recombinant green-fluorescent protein via its N-terminal hexahistidine tail. In the case of His-HRP, the amount of active enzyme specifically immobilized by metal-chelating binding was determined from the analysis of electrocatalytic currents using cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical grafting makes it possible to accurately controlled and electronically address the amount of deposited ligand on the conductive surfaces of carbon electrodes with any size and shape.
Subject(s)
Chelating Agents/chemistry , Histidine/analogs & derivatives , Metals/chemistry , Organometallic Compounds/chemistry , Proteins/chemistry , Binding Sites , Biosensing Techniques , Cations, Divalent , Copper/chemistry , Diazonium Compounds/chemistry , Electrochemistry , Electrodes , Graphite/chemistry , Imino Acids/chemistry , Kinetics , Ligands , Microscopy, Fluorescence , Nickel/chemistry , Nitrilotriacetic Acid/analogs & derivatives , Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission , Surface PropertiesABSTRACT
Out of several tries, biotinylation of the electrode surface by means of a sacrificial biotinylated immunoglobulin, followed by the anchoring of an avidin-enzyme conjugate appears as the best procedure for depositing a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) monolayer onto an electrode surface, allowing a high-yield immobilization of the enzyme within a stable and highly catalytic coating. Cyclic voltammetry is an efficient means for analyzing the catalytic reduction of H(2)O(2) at such HRP monolayer electrodes in the presence of [Os(III)(bpy)(2)pyCl](2+) (with bpy = bipyridine and py = pyridine) as a one-electron reversible cosubstrate. The odd shapes of current-potential responses, unusual bell-shaped variation of the peak or plateau current with the substrate concentration, hysteresis and trace crossing phenomena, and dependence or lack of dependence with the scan rate, can all be explained and quantitatively analyzed in the framework of the same catalysis/inhibition mechanism as previously demonstrated for homogeneous systems, taking substrate and cosubstrate mass transport of into account. According to H(2)O(2) concentration, limiting-behavior analyses based on the dominant factors or complete numerical simulation were used in the treatment of experimental data. The kinetic characteristics derived from these quantitative treatments implemented by the determination of the amount of enzyme deposited by the newly developed droplet depletion method allowed a comparison with homogeneous characteristics to be drawn. It shows that HRP remains nearly fully active once anchored on the electrode surface through the avidin-biotin linkage. On the basis of this full mechanistic and kinetic characterization, the analytical performances in H(2)O(2) detection and amperometric immunosensor applications are finally discussed.
