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Keywords
Lead and nickel, as heavy metals, are still used in industrial processes, and are classified as “environmental health hazards” due to their toxicity and polluting potential. The detection of heavy metals can prevent environmental pollution at toxic levels that are critical to human health. In this sense, the electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor (EIS) field-effect sensor is an attractive sensing platform concerning the fabrication of reusable and robust sensors to detect such substances. This study is aimed to fabricate a sensing unit on an EIS device based on Sn₃O₄ nanobelts embedded in a polyelectrolyte matrix of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) using the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique. The EIS-Sn₃O₄ sensor exhibited enhanced electrochemical performance for detecting Pb²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions, revealing a higher affinity for Pb²⁺ ions, with sensitivities of ca. 25.8 mV/decade and 2.4 mV/decade, respectively. Such results indicate that Sn₃O₄ nanobelts can contemplate a feasible proof-of-concept capacitive field-effect sensor for heavy metal detection, envisaging other future studies focusing on environmental monitoring.
The gene encoding a putative (R,R)-butane-2,3-diol dehydrogenase (bdhA) from Bacillus clausii DSM 8716T was isolated, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli. The amino acid sequence of the encoded protein is only distantly related to previously studied enzymes (identity 33–43%) and exhibited some uncharted peculiarities. An N-terminally StrepII-tagged enzyme variant was purified and initially characterized. The isolated enzyme catalyzed the (R)-specific oxidation of (R,R)- and meso-butane-2,3-diol to (R)- and (S)-acetoin with specific activities of 12 U/mg and 23 U/mg, respectively. Likewise, racemic acetoin was reduced with a specific activity of up to 115 U/mg yielding a mixture of (R,R)- and meso-butane-2,3-diol, while the enzyme reduced butane-2,3-dione (Vmax 74 U/mg) solely to (R,R)-butane-2,3-diol via (R)-acetoin. For these reactions only activity with the co-substrates NADH/NAD+ was observed. The enzyme accepted a selection of vicinal diketones, α-hydroxy ketones and vicinal diols as alternative substrates. Although the physiological function of the enzyme in B. clausii remains elusive, the data presented herein clearly demonstrates that the encoded enzyme is a genuine (R,R)-butane-2,3-diol dehydrogenase with potential for applications in biocatalysis and sensor development.
A New Class of Biosensors Based on Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Coat Proteins as Enzyme Nanocarrier
(2016)
An application of a scanning light-addressable potentiometric sensor for label-free DNA detection
(2013)
Capacitive field-effect electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor sensors consisting of an Al-p-Si-SiO2 structure have been used for the electrical detection of unlabelled single- and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules by their intrinsic charge. A simple functionalization protocol based on the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique was used to prepare a weak polyelectrolyte/probe-DNA bilayer, followed by the hybridization with complementary target DNA molecules. Due to the flat orientation of the LbL-adsorbed DNA molecules, a high sensor signal has been achieved. In addition, direct label-free detection of in-solution hybridized dsDNA molecules has been studied.
Capacitive field-effect sensors modified with a multi-enzyme membrane have been applied for an electronic transduction of biochemical signals processed by enzyme-based AND-Reset and OR-Reset logic gates. The local pH change at the sensor surface induced by the enzymatic reaction was used for the activation of the Reset function for the first time.