Toxicity Assessment of Cyanide and Tetramethylene Disulfotetramine （Tetramine） Using Luminescent Bacteria Vibrio-qinghaiensis and PbO= Electrochemical Sensor

The toxicities of cyanide and tetramethylene disulfotetramine （tetramine） were evaluated by two methods of luminescent bacteria and PbO2 electrochemical sensor. Vibrio-qinghaiensis, a kind of luminescent bacteria, can produce bioluminescence and the bioluminescence was decreased with the addition of toxicants. The toxicities of cyanide and tetrarnine were expressed as 10 min-EC50 value, which was the concentration of chemical that reduces the light output by 50% after contact for 10 min. Nano PbO2 modified electrode, a rapid toxicity determination method was also described in this work. By the PbO2 modified electrode, the current responses of Escherichia coli （E. coli） were changed with the addition of toxicants. The value of 10 min-EC50 was also provided with the PbO2 electrochemical sensor. Compared with the 10 min-EC50 and detection limits （38.38 and 0.60 μg/mL for cyanide, 0.24 and 0.02 μg/mL for tetramine） with luminescent bacteria, the PbO2 sensor provided a simple and convenient method with lower 10 min-EC50 and detection limits （26.37 and 0.52 μg/mL for cyanide, 0.21 and 0.01 μg/mL for tetramine） and fast response time.     

Homogeneous DNA Detection Based on Fluorescence Quenching by Nanoparticles in Single-step Format :Target-Induced Configuration Transform

A new strategy for homogeneous detection of DNA hybridization in single-step format was developed based on fluorescence quenching by gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticle is functionalized with 5’-thiolated 48-base oligonucleotide (probe sequence), whose 3’-terminus is labeled with fluorescein (FAM), a negatively charged fluorescence dye. The oligonucleotide adopts an extended configuration due to the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged gold nanoparticle and the FAM-attached probe sequence. After addition of the complementary target sequence, specific DNA hybridization induces a conformation change of the probe from an extended structure to an arch-like configuration, which brings the fluorophore and the gold nanoparticle in close proximity. The fluorescence is efficiently quenched by gold nanoparticles. The fluorescence quenching efficiency is related to the target concentration, which allows the quantitative detection for target sequence in a sample. A linear detection range from 1.6 to 209.4 nmol/L was obtained under the optimized experimental conditions with a detection limit of 0.1 nmol/L. In the assay system, the gold nanoparticles act as both nanoscaffolds and nanoquenchers. Furthermore, the proposed strategy, in which only two DNA sequences are involved, is not only different from the traditional molecular beacons or reverse molecular beacons but also different from the commonly used sandwich hybridization methods. In addition, the DNA hybridization detection was achieved in homogenous solution in a single-step format, which allows real-time detection and quantification with other advantages such as easy operation and elimination of washing steps.     

A novel resorufin based fluorescent “turn-on” probe for the selective detection of hydrazine and application in living cells

In this study, a resorufin derivative RTP-1, which is a novel fluorescent ‘‘turn-on' probe for sensitive detection of hydrazine within 30 min, is designed and synthesized. The selective deprotection of the ester group of the probe by hydrazine led to a prominent enhancement of fluorescent intensity, as well as a remarkable color change from colorless to pink, which could be distinguished by naked eye. The fluorescence enhancement showed decent linear relationship with hydrazine concentration ranging from 0 to 50 mmol/L, with a detection limit of 0.84 mmol/L. The specificity of RTP-1 for hydrazine to a number of metal ions, anions and amines is satisfactory. The sensing mechanism of RTP-1 and hydrazine was evaluated by HPLC, ESI mass spectrometry and density functional theory(DFT).Moreover, we have utilized this fluorescent probe for imaging hydrazine in living cells, and the fluorescence was clearly observed when the cells were incubated with hydrazine(100 mmol/L) for 30 min.     

Colorimetric detection of glucose using a boronic acid derivative receptor attached to unmodifed AuNPs简

A simple, cheap and non-enzymatic colorimetric strategy for glucose detection has been designed based on the interactions between a phenylboronic acid （PBA） derivative, which is coupled with gold nanoparticles （AuNPs） as the colorimetric reporters, and glucose. The PBA-AuNPs hybrid system proposed here exhibits ordered photochemistry behaviors upon the addition of glucose at different pH values. There are two linear regions of glucose concentration for the glucose sensor at different pH values, i.e., between 0.1 mmol/L and 9.8 mmol/L at pH 6 with the detection limit of 64μmol/L and between 0 and 6.5 mmol/L with the detection limit of 48 μmol/L at pH 9, respectively. To test the practicality of the sensor system, we also applied this assay to detect a glucose sample in the artificial saliva.     

An ethanol biosensor based on a bacterial cell-immobilized eggshell membrane

An ethanol biosensor was fabricated based on a Methylobacterium organophilium-immobilized eggshell membrane and an oxygen（O₂） electrode.A linear response for ethanol was obtained in the range of 0.050-7.5 mmol/L with a detection limit of 0.025 mmol/L（S/N= 3） and a R.S.D.of 2.1%.The response time was less than 100 s at room temperature and ambient pressure. The optimal loading of bacterial cells on the biosensor membrane is 40 mg（wet weight）.The optimal working conditions for the microbial biosensor are pH 7.0 phosphate buffer（50 mmol/L） at 20-25℃.The interference test,operational and storage stability of the biosensor are studied in detail.Finally,the biosensor is applied to determine the ethanol contents in various alcohol samples and the results are comparable to that obtained by gas chromatographic method and the results are satisfactory.Our proposed biosensor provides a convenient,simple and reliable method to determine ethanol content in alcoholic drinks.     

MOF derived Co3O4/N-doped carbon nanotubes hybrids as efficient catalysts for sensitive detection of H2O2 and glucose

Developing enzyme-free sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity for H2O2 and glucose is highly desirable for biological science.Especially,it is attractive to exploit noble-metal-free nanomaterials with large surface area and good conductivity as highly active and selective catalysts for molecular detection in enzyme-free sensors.Herein,we successfully fabricate hollow frameworks of Co3O4/N-doped carbon nanotubes(Co3O4/NCNTs)hybrids by the pyrolysis of metal-organic frameworks followed by calcination in the air.The as-prepared novel hollow Co3O4/NCNTs hybrids exhibit excellent electrochemical performance for H2O2 reduction in neutral solutions and glucose oxidation in alkaline solutions.As sensor electrode,the Co3O4/NCNTs show excellent non-enzymatic sensing ability towards H2O2 response with a sensitivity of 87.40μA(mmol/L)^-1 cm^-2,a linear range of 5.00μmol/L-11.00 mmol/L,and a detection limitation of 1μmol/L in H2O2 detection,and a good glucose detection performance with 5μmol/L.These excellent electrochemical performances endow the hollow Co3O4/NCNTs as promising alternative to enzymes in the biological applications.     

Chemoselective hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol to 1,5-pentanediol over Ir-MoOx/Si02 catalyst

In this work, MoOx promoted Ir/SiO2 catalysts were prepared and used for the selective hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol （THFA） to 1,5-pentanediol in a continuous flow reactor. The effects of different noble metals （Ir, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh）, supports and Ir contents were screened. Among the investigated catalysts, 4 wt%Ir-MoOx/SiO2 with a Mo/Ir atomic ratio of 0.13 exhibited the best catalytic performance. The synergy between Ix particles and the partially reduced isolated MoOx species attached on them is essential for the excellent catalytic performance of Ix-MoOx/SiO2. The catalyst exhibited a better hydrogenolysis efficiency of THFA with the selectivity of 1,5-pentanediol of 65%-74% at a conversion of THFA of 70%-75% when the initial THFA concentration is ranging from 20 wt% and 40 wt%. And higher system pressure was also in favor of the conversion of THFA. During a stability test, the conversion of THFA and 1,5-pentanediol yield over Ix-MoOz/SiO2 decreased with reaction time, which can be explained by the leaching of Mo species during the reaction.     

Synthesis of Polyacrylaminothiourea Chelating Fiber and Properties of Concentration and Separation of Trace Noble Metal Ions from Samples

A novel polyacrylaminothiourea chelating fiber was synthesized simply and rapidly from nitrilon (an acrylonitrile-based synthetic fiber), which was applied to preconcentrate and separate of trace amount of Au(Ⅲ）,Pt(Ⅳ）,Pd(Ⅳ） and Ir (Ⅳ） ions from solution of samples.The analyzed ions can be quantitatively concentrated by the fiber up to a flow rate of 20.0mL/min at pH2, and can also be desorbed with 15 mL of 4mol/L HCl 3% thiourea from the fiber column with recoveries of 96.5%-100%.The chelating fiber can be reused for ten times,the recoveries of these ions are still over 92%,and hundred to thousand times of excess of Fe(Ⅲ）,Al（Ⅲ）,Ca(Ⅱ），Mg（Ⅱ）,Ni(Ⅱ）,Mn（Ⅱ),Cu(Ⅱ），Zn(Ⅱ），and Cd(Ⅱ） cause no interference on the determination of the analyzed ions by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).The static saturation adsorption capacities of the fiber for the analytes are in the range of 1.15-2.80mmol/g.The relative standard deviations for the determination of 20.0ng/mL each of Au(Ⅲ）,Pt(Ⅳ）,Pd(Ⅳ）and Ir(Ⅳ） are in the range of 0.7%-3.0%.The recoveries for test from standard additions to real solution samples are between 96% and 100%.The concentration of each ion in powder sample detected by the method is in good agreement with the certified value.     

Sensitive detection of DNA methyltransferase activity based on rolling circle amplification technology

This work develops a fluorescence approach for sensitive detection of DNA methyltransferase activity based on endonuclease and rolling circle amplification （RCA） technique. In the presence of DNA adenine methylation （Dam） MTase, the methylation-responsive sequence of hairpin probe is methylated and cleaved by the methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease Dpn 1. The products cleaved by restriction endonuclease Dpn I then function as a signal primer to initiate RCA reaction by hybridizing with the circular DNA template. Each RCA product containing thousands of repeated sequences might hybridize with a large number of molecular beacons （detection probes）, resulting in an enhanced fluorescence signal. In the absence of Dam MTase, neither methylation/cleavage nor RCA reaction can be initiated and no fluorescence signal is observed. The proposed method exhibits a dynamic range from 0.5 U/mL to 30 U/mL and a detection limit of 0.18 U/mL. This method can be used for the screening of antimicrobial drugs and has a great potential to be further applied in early clinical diagnosis.     

Determination of phenolic whitening agents in cosmetics by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with amperometric detection

A sensitive method for simultaneous determination of six phenolic whitening agents,including arbutin, phenol,resorcinol,hydroquinone,kojic acid,and salicylic acid in cosmetics has been developed using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with amperometric detection（MECC-AD）.Effects of several factors,such as the pH value and concentration of running buffer,potential applied to the working electrode,separation voltage,and injection time were investigated to obtain optimum conditions for separation and detection.With a 75 cm long fused-silica capillary tube,well-defined separation of six phenolic compounds was achieved in 10mmol/L SDS/40 mmol/L H₃BO₃-Na₂B₄O₇ running buffer（pH 9.0）.Good linear relationship was obtained for each analyte over three orders of magnitude with correlation coefficients（r2） between 0.9985 and 0.9994,and the detection limit（S/N=3） ranged from 0.04μg/mL to 0.45μg/mL The proposed method has been successfully applied for the determination of phenolic whitening agents in real cosmetic samples with satisfactory results,providing an alternative monitoring method for cosmetics safety regulation.     

Electrochemical DNA nano-biosensor for the detection of genotoxins in water samples简

In the present study, a disposable electrochemical DNA nano-biosensor is proposed for the rapid detection of genotoxic compounds and bio-analysis of water pollution. The DNA nano-biosensor is prepared by immobilizing DNA on Au nanoparticles and a self-assembled monolayer of cysteamine modified Au electrode. The assembly processes of cysteamine, Au nanoparticles and DNA were characterized by cyclic voltammetry （CV）. The Au nanoparticles enhanced DNA immobilization resulting in an increased guanine signal. The interaction of the analyte with the immobilized DNA was measured through the variation of the electrochemical signal of guanine by square wave voltammetry （SWV）. The biosensor was able to detect the known genotoxic compounds： 2-anthramine, acridine orange and 2- naphthylamine with detection limits of 2, 3 and 50 nmol/L, respectively. The biosensor was also used to test actual water samples to evaluate the contamination level. Additionally, the comparison of results from the classical genotoxiciw bioassay has confirmed the applicability of the method for real samoles.     

Immobilization and Characterization of Glucose Oxidase on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Its Application to Sensing Glucose

The negatively charged （at pH 8.2） glucose oxidase （GOx, pI ca. 4.2） was assembled onto the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNT）, which was covered （or wrapped） by a layer of positively charged polyelectrolyte poly（dimethyldiallylammonium chloride） （PDDA）, via the electrostatic interaction forming GOx-PDDASWNT nanocomposites. Fourier transform infrared （FTIR）, UV-Vis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS） were used to characterize the growth processes of the nanocomposites. The results indicated that GOx retained its native secondary conformational structure after it was immobilized on the surface of PDDA-SWNT. A biosensor （Nafion-GOx-PDDA-SWNT/GC） was developed by immobilization of GOx-PDDA-SWNT nanocomposites on the surface of glassy carbon （GC） electrode using Nafion （5%） as a binder. The biosensor showed the electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of glucose under the presence of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid （FcM） as an electroactive mediator with a good stability, reproducibility and higher biological affinity. Under an optimal condition, the biosensor could be used to detection of glucose, presenting a typical characteristic of Michaelis-Menten kinetics with the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of KM^app ca. 4.5 mmol/L, with a linear range of the concentration of glucose from 0.5 to 5.5 mmol/L （with correlation coefficient of 0.999） and the detection limit of ca. 83 μmol/L （at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3）. Thus the biosensor was useful in sensing the glucose concentration in serum since the normal glucose concentration in blood serum was around 4.6 mmol/L. The facile procedure of immobilizing GOx used in present work would promote the developments of electrochemical research for enzymes （proteins）, biosensors, biofuel cells and other bioelectrochemical devices.     

Electrochemical sensing of DNA immobilization and hybridization based on carbon nanotubes/nano zinc oxide/chitosan composite film

A novel electrochemical DNA biosensor based on zinc oxide （ZnO） nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWNTs） for DNA immobilization and enhanced hybridization detection is presented. The MWNTs/nano ZnO/chitosan composite film modified glassy carbon electrode （MWNTs/ZnO/CHIT/GCE） was fabricated and DNA probes were immobilized on the electrode surface. The hybridization events were monitored by differential pulse voltammetry （DPV） using methylene blue （MB） as an indicator. The sensor can effectively discriminate different DNA sequences related to PAT gene in the transgenic corn, with a detection limit of 2.8× 10^-12 mol/L of target sequence.     

Folate-targeted optical and magnetic resonance dualmodality PCL-<Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-PEG micelles for tumor imaging

A biodegradable tumor targeting nano-probe based on poly（ε-caprolactone）-b-poly（ethylene glycol）block copolymer（PCL-b-PEG）micelle functionalized with a magnetic resonance imaging（MRI）contrast agent diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-gadolinium(DTPA-Gd³⁺)on the shell and a near-infrared（NIR）dye in the core for magnetic resonance and optical dual-modality imaging was prepared.The longitudinal relaxivity（r₁）of the PCL-b-PEG-DTPA -Gd³⁺micelle was 13.4（mmol/L）^-1s^-1,three folds of that of DTPA-Gd³⁺,and higher than that of many polymeric contrast agents with similar structures.The in vivo optical imaging of a nude mouse bearing xenografted breast tumor showed that the dual-modality micelle preferentially accumulated in the tumor via the folic acid-mediated active targeting and the passive accumulation by the enhanced permeability and retention（EPR）effect.The results indicated that the dualmodality micelle is a promising nano-probe for cancer detection and diagnosis.     

Capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection of main polyamines and precursor amino acids in saliva

A hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction （HF-LPME） method has been developed for the purification and preconcentration of biogenic polyamines and their precursor amino acids in human saliva. Putrescine （Put）, cadaverine （Cad）, spermidine （Spe）, ornithine （Orn）, lysine （Lys）, and arginine （Arg） were determined by the CE-LIF detection after microextraction. Several factors that affect extraction efficiency, separation, and detection were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, six analytes could achieve baseline separation within 30 min, exhibiting a linear calibration at three orders of magnitude （r2 〉 0.998）; the obtained enrichment factors of HF-LPME were between 19 （for Orn） and 2] 8 （for Cad）, and the LODs were in the range of 0.0072-0.26 nmol/L. The proposed HF-LPME/CE-LIF method has been successfully applied for the sensitive analyses of the real-world saliva samples collected from healthy volunteers and different patients with oral diseases, providing a potential method for primary non-invasive diagnosis of some oral diseases.     

A novel method for the spectrophotometric determination of cefradine by using sodium nitroprusside as chromogenic reagent

A novel method is developed for the determination of cefradine by using sodium nitroprusside as chromogenic reagent. The experiment indicates that a russety product is formed by the reaction of cefradine with sodium nitroprusside in basic solution, and the maximum absorption wavelength （λmax） of russety product is 505 rim. And the sensitization of tetradecyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride for the reaction of cefradine with sodium nitroprusside is remarkable, The apparent molar absorption coefficient （5505） is 2.81 × 103 L/mol cm. The linear equation isA = 0.0657 ＋ 0.00804C （μg/mL） in the range of 1.50-55.0μg/mL of cefradine with a correlation coefficient r = 0.9992, and the detection limit is 1.38 p,g/mL. This method has been applied to determine cefradine in capsule and tablet samples.     

Application of Single—labelled Probe—primer in PCR Amplification to the Detection of Hepatitis B Virus DNA

A new method based on the incorporation of a single-lablled probe-primer into polymerase chain reaction(PCR) for the detection of PCR-amplified DNA in a closed system is reported.The probeprimerc consists of a specific probe sequence on the 5‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘-end and a primer sequence on the 3‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘-end.A flurophore is located at the 5‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘end.The primeR-quencher is an oligonucleotide,which is complementary to the probe sequence of probe-primer and labelled with a quencher at the 3‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘-end.In the duplex formed by probe-primer and primer-quencher.the fluorophore and quencher are kept in close proximity to each other.Therefore the fluorescence is quenched.During PCR amplificatio,the specific probe sequence of probeprimer binds to its complement within the same strand of DNA,and is cleaved by Taq DNA polymerase,resulting in the restoration of fluorescence.This system has the same energy transfer mechanism as molecular beacons,and a good quenching effciency can be ensured.Following optimization of PCR conditions,this method was used to detect hepatitis b virus(HBV) dna in patient sera.This technology eliminates the risk of carry-over contamination,simplifies the amplification assay and opens up new possibilities for the real-time detection of the amplified DNA.     

Self-assembly of silica nanosheets on titanium fibers for solids-phase microex⁃traction of UV absorbers in environmental water samplesEI北大核心CSCD

Silica nanosheets （SiO2NSs）were successfully assembled on titanium （Ti）wires by sol-gel method. TiO2 nanosheets （TiO2NSs）were grown in situ on Ti wires using anodic oxidation in a fluoride-containing electrolyte to obtain Ti@TiO2NSs. The Ti@TiO2NSs@SiO2NSs fibers were obtained by coating Ti@TiO2NSs with SiO2NSs. It was characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）. The fibers were used for solid-phase microextraction of ultraviolet absorbers （UVFs）. Under the optimized conditions, six UVFs presented good linearity with the correlation coefficients （R2） greater than 0.999, and the limits of detection （LODs）ranged from 9 to 59 ng/L. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations （RSDs） were from 4.3% to 5.1% and 4.6% to 5.8% for a single fiber at the spiked level of 25 μg/L, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the selective enrichment and determination of target UVFs in environmental water samples with recoveries from 93.2% to 108.1% and RSDs from 4.5% to 7.1%. Moreover, the fiber can be fabricated in a precisely controllable manner and is stable for at least 200 extraction and desorption cycles. © 2023, Youke Publishing Co.,Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Graphene-gold Nanoparticle Composite Film Modified Electrode for Determination of Trace Mercury in Environmental Water

The graphene-gold nanoparticles composite film modified glassy carbon electrode （EG- AuNPs/GCE） was prepared by one-step coelectrodeposition and employed for determination of trace mercury in environmental water with differential pulse stripping voltammetry. Such a nanostructured composite film combined with the advantages of gold nanoparticles and graphene, can greatly promote the electron-transfer process and increase accumulation abil-ity for Hg（Ⅱ）, leading to a remarkably improved sensitivity. The linear calibration curve ranged from 0.2 μg/L to 30 μg/L for Hg（Ⅱ） and the detection limit （S/N=3） was found to be 0.03 μg/L at a deposition time of 300 s. Moreover, the stablity of the as-prepared electrode and interferences from other substances were evaluated. The modified electrode was successfully applied to the direct detection of Hg（Ⅱ） in real water samples.     

Capillary Electrophoretic Determination of Jinggangmycin A in Formulations Using Direct UV Detection

A simple, fast and reliable method was developed for the analysis of jinggangmycin A （validamycin A） in commercial formulations. The running buffer used was acetate buffer （100 mmol/L, pH 4.7） with 15 kV as the applied voltage. The detection was achieved by using direct UV mode at 200 nm and the detection limit was 0.2 μg/mL. Linearity in the concentration range of 5-500 μg/mL was excellent （RE 〉 0.999）. The run-to-run repeatability （n = 3）, as expressed by the relative standard deviation （RSD） for migration times and peak areas were less than 0.5% and 3.0% respectively. The mean recovery ranged from 97.2% to 101.4%.