title: Acetylcholinesterase liquid crystal biosensor based on modulated growth of gold nanoparticles for amplified detection of acetylcholine and inhibitor.
abstract: A novel acetylcholinesterase (AChE) liquid crystal (LC) biosensor based on enzymatic growth of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) has been developed for amplified detection of acetylcholine (ACh) and AChE inhibitor. In this method, AChE mediates the hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine (ATCl) to form thiocholine, and the latter further reduces AuCl(4)(-) to Au NPs without Au nanoseeds. This process, termed biometallization, leads to a great enhancement in the optical signal of the LC biosensor due to the large size of Au NPs, which can greatly disrupt the orientational arrangement of LCs. On the other hand, the hydrolysis of ATCl is inhibited in the presence of ACh or organophosphate pesticides (OPs, a AChE inhibitor), which will decrease the catalytic growth of Au NPs and, as a result, reduce the orientational response of LCs. On the basis of such an inhibition mechanism, the AChE LC biosensor can be used as an effective way to realize the detection of ACh and AChE inhibitors. The results showed that the AChE LC biosensor was highly sensitive to ACh with a detection limit of 15 μmol/L and OPs with a detection limit of 0.3 nmol/L. This study provides a simple and sensitive AChE LC biosensing approach and offers effective signal enhanced strategies for the development of enzyme LC biosensors.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuzhen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zhaoxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Zhaoyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Guoli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Ruqin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D002384:Catalysis; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase