Bienzymatic-based electrochemical DNA biosensors: a way to lower the detection limit of hybridization assays.

The use of the alkaline phosphatase (AP) as an enzyme label and the amplification of its analytical response with a diaphorase (DI) secondary enzyme were investigated in an electrochemical hybridization assay involving arrays of carbon screen-printed DNA biosensors for the sensitive quantification of an amplified 406-base pair human cytomegalovirus DNA sequence (HCMV DNA). For this purpose, PCR-amplified biotinylated HCMV DNA targets were simultaneously bound to a monolayer of neutravidin irreversibly adsorbed on the surface of the electrodes and hybridized to complementary digoxigenin-labeled detection probes. The amount of hybrids immobilized on the electrode surface was labeled with an anti-digoxigenin AP conjugate and quantified electrochemically by measuring the activity of the AP label through the hydrolysis of the electroinactive p-aminophenylphosphate (PAPP) substrate into the p-aminophenol (PAP) product.

Evaluation of the analytical performances of avidin-modified carbon sensors based on a mediated horseradish peroxidase enzyme label and their application to the amperometric detection of nucleic acids.

In this study, neutravidin-coated screen-printed carbon sensors were fully characterized and further used for the amperometric detection of specific DNA sequences of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV DNA). For this purpose, we took advantage of an earlier established relationship between the amount of HRP affinity immobilized on the surface of the electrode and the steady-state current recorded in the presence of H(2)O(2) as substrate and the single electron donor [Os(III)(bpy)(2)pyCl](2+) as cosubstrate. After incubating a saturating concentration of biotinylated horseradish peroxidase (Bio-HRP) onto the neutravidin-modified sensors, a surface concentration of active HRP of 3.

Subfemtomolar electrochemical detection of target DNA by catalytic enlargement of the hybridized gold nanoparticle labels.

After showing the failure of conventional gold-enhancement procedures to amplify the gold nanoparticle-based electrochemical transduction of DNA hybridization in polystyrene microwells, a new efficient protocol was developed and evaluated for the sensitive quantification of a 35 base-pair human cytomegalovirus nucleic acid target (tDNA). In this assay, the hybridization of the target adsorbed on the bottom of microwells with an oligonucleotide-modified Au nanoparticle detection probe (pDNA-Au) was monitored by the anodic stripping detection of the chemically oxidized gold label at a screen-printed microband electrode (SPMBE). Thanks to the combination of the sensitive Au(III) determination at a SPMBE with the large amount of Au(III) released from each pDNA-Au, picomolar detection limits of tDNA can be achieved.

Influence of pendant arms bearing ligating groups on the structure of bismuth porphyrins: implications for labeling immunoglobulins used in medical applications.

The synthesis of two picket bismuth(III) porphyrins is reported, and their crystal structures are compared. The influence of the nature of the pickets, as well as their number, is discussed in terms of stability, kinetics of metalation, structure, and distortion of the porphyrin. Unexpectedly, the results indicate that the coordination sphere of bismuth is not affected by different types of distortion nor is the stability of the complex.

Covalent immobilization of oligonucleotides on p-aminophenyl-modified carbon screen-printed electrodes for viral DNA sensing.

DNA-sensing platforms were prepared by covalently attaching oligonucleotide capture probes onto p-aminophenyl-functionalized carbon surfaces and applied to the determination of an amplified herpes virus DNA sequence in an electrochemical hybridization assay.