Amperometric Urea Biosensor Using Aminated Glassy Carbon Electrode Covered with Urease Immobilized Carbon Sheet,Based on the Electrode Oxidation of Carbamic Acid

A large oxidation current can be observed when ammonium carbamate aqueous solution is electrolyzed using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) at a potential exceeding 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and amino groups are introduced at the surface of the GCE. Aminated GCE exhibits the electrocatalytic activity of the oxidation of ammonium carbamate that is produced from urea as an intermediate product of urease reaction, and a distinct oxidation current is observed when the aminated GCE is used to oxidize the urea in the urease solution. A novel amperometric determination method to detect urea has been developed. This method is based on the electrooxidation of carbamic acid produced during urease reactions. Urease is immobilized to polymaleimidostyrene (PMS) coated on the insulated amorphous carbon sheet set on the aminated GCE surface. A good linear relationship is observed between urea concentration and the electrolytic current of the urease‐immobilized electrode in the concentration range from 0.5 mM to 21.0 mM. The proposed urea biosensor has an effective merit in that the interference resulting from ammonia and pH change caused by the urease reaction can be eliminated, differing from conventional urea biosensors.     

Application of polymaleimidostyrene as a convenient immobilization reagent of enzyme in biosensor

Sulfhydryl groups of glucose oxidase (GOD) were reacted with maleimide groups of polymaleimidostyrene (PMS) which was coated onto the porous carbon sheet, and the carbon sheet immobilized by GOD was combined with an oxygen electrode to fabricate a glucose sensor. The activity of thiolated GOD immobilized to PMS is much larger than that of native GOD immobilized to PMS. The good linear relationship of glucose and oxygen current response was obtained in a concentration range from 0.1 to 2 mM and upper limit of linear range was found to be 3.0 mM. The immobilized GOD activity is highly dependent on pH at immobilization and the maximum activity was obtained at pH 5.5, probably because the SH groups of GOD that are indispensable for generation of enzyme activity is not exposed at this pH. It was found that PMS is very effective reagent to immobilize enzyme strongly via covalent bond, because high density of maleimide groups of PMS can catch not only exposed SH groups but also buried SH groups.     

Immobilization of uricase to gas diffusion carbon felt by electropolymerization of aniline and its application as an enzyme reactor for uric acid sensor

Electropolymerizations of aniline and pyrrole solutions containing uricase at a neutral pH was performed to immobilize the enzyme on the surface of the gas diffusion carbon felt, and a selective uric acid sensor was fabricated by combining immobilized enzyme carbon felt and an oxygen electrode with oxygen gas permeable membrane. This carbon felt has a desirable feature for uricase sensing because an extremely efficient supply of oxygen for the enzymatic reaction can be realized due to its porosity permitting a transfer of oxygen. The current response time required from when sample is added until when current reaches the steady-state value is <5 min. The calibration graph of uric acid showed a linear line in a concentration range from 1x10(-5) to 4x10(-4) M with a detection limit of 4x10(-6) M.     

Deactivation of jack bean urease in urea hydrolysis

Deactivation studies of jack bean urease immobilized on porous alumina beads in the hydrolysis of urea were conducted in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) at a temperature of 25°C and pH 7.0. Though the mechanism of poisoning of urease by product ammonia is fairly well understood from the literature, the nature of the poisoning of urease by urea is presented in this article. These studies were conducted by adsorbing the ammonia formed in the hydrolysis reaction. The results indicate that, in the presence of the adsorbent Zeolite W, the deactivation rate is reduced by a factor of almost two, and thus provide a technique for prolonging the life of the enzyme. The deactivation model suggests that the free form of the enzyme is most susceptible to attack by the substrate urea. The experimental data suggest that deactivation by combined ammonia and urea is fairly complex.     

An enzyme reactor electrode for urea determinations.

An enzyme reactor electrode system for the determination of urea is described. A buffer is pumped through an enzyme reactor (0.4 ml) containing urease immobilized with glutaraldehyde to glass. The effluent is mixed with sodium hydroxide pumped through a second channel and fed through an ammonia gas electrode. Samples are introduced via a third flow channel and mixed with the buffer. The conversion of urea to ammonia is quantitative for sample concentrations of less than 0.03 M for a flow rate of 40 ml h^-1. The reactor electrode shows a Nernstian slope of 57 mV/decade for 5·10^-5–3·10^-2 M urea. The response is independent of variations in the flow rate, enzyme activity or temperature of the reactor.     

A bio-imprinted urease biosensor: Improved thermal and operational stabilities

Despite the increasing number of applications of biosensors in many fields, the construction of a steady biosensor remains still challenging. The high stability of molecularly bio-imprinted enzymes for its substrate can make them ideal alternatives as recognition elements for sensors. Urease (urea aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.5), which catalysis the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide, has been used in immobilized form in artificial kidney for blood detoxification. According to one report approximately half a million patients worldwide are being supported by haemodialysis. In this study, the enzyme of urease was first complexed by using a substrate analogue, thiourea, in aqueous medium and then this enzyme was immobilized on gelatin by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde on a glass electrode surface. Similarly, urease noncomplexed with thiourea was also immobilized on a glass electrode in the same conditions. The aim of the study was to compare the two biosensors in terms of their repeatability, pH stability and thermal stability, and also, linear ranges of two biosensors were compared with each other.     

Immobilization of glucose oxidase on carbon paper electrodes modified with conducting polymer and its application to a glucose fuel cell

A carbon paper electrode was modified with the conducting copolymer of 3-methylthiopene and thiophene-3-acetic acid prepared electrochemically on the electrode, and an enzyme electrode was fabricated by covalent immobilization of glucose oxidase on the modified electrode. The modification with the conducting copolymer increased the surface area of the electrode and the amount of the immobilized enzyme. As a result, the enzyme electrode showed a high catalytic activity. Moreover, it was found that the increased surface area led to a high rate of electron transfer reaction between the electrode and p-benzoquinone employed as an electron mediator. The enzyme electrode fabricated with the modified carbon paper gave a larger glucose oxidation current than that fabricated with the bare one. In addition, the glucose oxidation current was found to increase with increasing content of the conducting copolymer in the modified carbon paper. Corresponding to the large glucose oxidation current, high performance was confirmed for the glucose fuel cell constructed with the enzyme electrode based on the modified carbon paper.     

A Urea Electrode Based on the Ammonia Probe

Abstract

An enzyme electrode specific for the substrate urea is described. The electrode consists of a layer of urease polymerized directly on to the surface of the gas diffusion membrane of an ammonia probe by means of glutaraldehyde. The calibration curves obtained when the electrode is allowed to measure in buffered solutions are discussed in terms of enzyme activity and pH-gradients in the membrane.     

Determination of mercury(II) traces in drinking water by inhibition of an urease reactor in a flow injection analysis (FIA) system

 The integration of an urease reactor into a gas diffusion flow injection system was investigated for the determination of urease inhibitors. The enzyme was immobilized by entrapping in polyacrylamide gel. Besides copper and silver ions mercury ions inhibit the conversion of urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia catalysed by urease. The pH change of the carrier solution caused by the ammonia released was measured potentiometrically with a pH electrode. The inhibition behaviour of Hg(II) ions was investigated. A linear range from 2 to 20 μg L^-1 Hg(II) was obtained after a 90 s inhibition, with a correlation coefficient of r=0.9997. The relative standard deviation was 1.4% for five measurements of 2 μg L^-1Hg(II). A sample frequency of 7 h^-1 was achieved. The inhibited enzyme can be reactivated. The method was applied to the determination of Hg(II) in two drinking water samples. Received: 16 April 1996/Revised: 3 June 1996/Accepted: 11 June 1996     

Enzymatic flow-injection determination of urea in blood serum using potentiometric gas sensor with internal nonactin based ISE

Ion-selective electrode with cellulose triacetate membrane containing nonactin is employed for the potentiometric detection of ammonia produced in biocatalytic reaction in flow-injection system with enzyme reactor. The elimination of interferences occurring in the presence of alkali metal ions was achieved by covering a nonactin membrane with outer hydrophobic gas permeable membrane. The obtained flow-injection response to ammonia indicates a possibility of ammonia determination down to 10 microM ammonia. In the flow-injection system for urea determination 200 microl of 10-fold diluted blood serum sample was injected into carrier stream of distilled water merged with TRIS buffer, passed through the urease flow-through reactor and then after merging with NaOH stream delivered to the detector. It was found in several series of natural blood serum samples, that the correction for endogenous ammonia in such a determination is not indispensable.     

Amperometric determination of urea using an NADH-dependent coupled enzyme

Enzyme electrodes for the amperometric measurement of urea were prepared by co-immobilizing l-glutamate dehydrogenase and urease onto an Immobilon-AV affinity membrane with attachment to a glassy carbon electrode. Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) was used as the electroactive species. The electrochemical oxidation of NADH was monitored at +1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The enzyme immobilized electrode was linear over the range of 2.0 x 10(-5) to 2 x 10(-4)M. The response time of the electrode was 3 min and the optimum pH of enzyme immobilized membrane was pH 7.4-7.6 (Dulbecco's buffer solution). It was stable for at least two weeks and 50 assays. There were no interferences from other physiological material, except for high levels of ascorbic acid.     

Gas phase derivatization of ammonia with 4-fluoro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole and its application to urease assay.

An ammonia-specific and rapid fluorometric method for determination of ammonia and urease activity was developed. The method is designed to assay ammonia levels or urease activity for the rapid diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection. 4-Fluoro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole was used to derivatize ammonia and 4-amino-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole was analysed by high performance liquid chromatography at an excitation wavelength of 455 nm and an emission wavelength of 520 nm. Derivatization was designed to react with ammonia gas produced in a strong alkaline pH sample. The fluorescent intensity was linear in the range of 0.1-10 mM ammonia per tube when the reaction was carried out for 15 min at 37 degrees C. Urease activity, judged as the amount of ammonia production from urea, could be measured at 25 ng per tube (S/N = 1.5) with Jack bean meal urease. Because of its rapidity, this assay is potentially superior to the current standard method in use in clinical settings.     

An enzyme reactor electrode for determination of amino acids

L-Leucine can be determined with an enzyme reactor electrode containing L-amino acid oxidase immobilized with glutaraldehyde to glass. The reactor also contains immobilized catalase which splits the hydrogen peroxide formed. Oxygen for the reaction is also supplied by adding hydrogen peroxide to the samples. The electrode is an ammonia gas sensor. The calibration curve is strictly linear with Nernstian slope between 3·10^-5 and 10^-3 M leucine.     

Spectrophotometric flow-injection determination of urea in body fluids by using an immobilized urease reactor

A flow system involving a packed-bed enzyme reactor (volume 180 μl) with urease immobilized covalently on poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-coated porous glass is used for determining urea in blood serum and urine. Enzymatically produced ammonia is converted to an indophenolate dye (by oxidative coupling with hypochlorite and sodium salicylate), which is detected spectrophotometrically at 700 nm. The calibration graph is rectilinear for 25–500 μM urea when injecting samples (75 μl) diluted 1:50 for serum or 1:1000 for urine at a frequency of 60 h^?1; the relative standard deviation is 1.1% for ten injections of 300 μM urea. The immobilized urease is stabilized by the addition of disodium EDTA, sodium azide and 2-mercaptoethanol to a 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.9) used as the carrier stream, which serves also as a preservative for longterm storage of the urease reactor packing at 4°C.     

Enzyme and inhibition assay of urease by continuous monitoring of the ammonium formation based on capillary electrophoresis

We present here an easy‐to‐operate and efficient method for enzyme and inhibition assays of urease, which is a widely distributed and important enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and CO₂. The assay was achieved by integrating CE technique and rapid on‐line derivatization method, allowing us to continuously drive the sample to the capillary, thus to measure the amount of the product ammonia from the beginning to the end of the reaction. The method exhibits excellent repeatability with RSD as low as 2.5% for the initial reaction rate (n = 5), with the LOD of ammonia of 20 μM (S/N = 5). The enzyme activity as well as the inhibition of urease by Cu²⁺ were investigated using the present method. The results show that Cu²⁺ is a noncompetitive inhibitor on urease, in accordance with the result published in the literature. The enzyme activity and inhibition kinetic constants were obtained and were found to be consistent with the results of traditional off‐line enzyme assays. Our study indicates that the present approach is a reliable and convenient method for analysis of the urease activity and inhibition kinetics by continuous on‐line monitoring of the ammonium formation based on CE.     

Fabricating and imaging carbon-fiber immobilized enzyme ultramicroelectrodes with scanning electrochemical microscopy.

The scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM) is used to image the activity of enzymes immobilized on the surfaces of disk-shaped carbon-fiber electrodes. SECM was used to map the concentration of enzymatically produced hydroquinone or hydrogen peroxide at the surface of a 33-microm diameter disk-shaped carbon-fiber electrode modified by an immobilized glucose-oxidase layer. Sub-monolayer coverage of the enzyme at the electrode surface could be detected with micrometer resolution. The SECM was also employed as a surface modification tool to produce microscopic regions of enzyme activity by using a variety of methods. One method is a gold-masking process in which microscopic gold patterns act as mask for producing patterns of chemical modification. The gold masks allow operation in both a positive or negative process for patterning enzyme activity. A second method uses the direct mode of the SECM to produce covalently attached amine groups on the carbon surface. The amine groups are anchors for attachment of glucose oxidase by use of a biotin/avidin process. The effect of non-uniform enzyme activity was investigated by using the SECM tip to temporarily damage an immobilized enzyme surface. SECM imaging can observe the spatial extent and time-course of the enzyme recovery process.     

Determination and on-site sampling of inorganic and organic mercury in aqueous samples with enzyme reactors

Micro reactors containing immobilized urease are used for the sampling and determination of mercury ions. When an aqueous sample is passed through the reactor, the mercury ions are collected and bound to the enzyme. The enzyme is partially inhibited and the amount of mercury ions is determined as a decrease in the enzyme activity. The enzyme activity is determined with an ammonia electrode when a urea solution is pumped through the reactor. The selectivity is very high and the operating range is 0–15 nM Hg²⁺ for 5-ml samples. The mercury can be stored for several days in the reactor before the measurements are made. Organo-mercury compounds give essentially the same response as inorganic mercury.     

Hydrogen fuel electrode based on bioelectrocatalysis by the enzyme hydrogenase

Our aim is to show, that the enzymes as electrocatalysts are able to improve the performance characteristics of the fuel cells. The hydrogen fuel electrode based on hydrogenase from Thiocapsa roseopersicina immobilized directly on carbon filament material has been made. The enzyme electrode has operated according to electron tunneling between the enzyme active site and the electrode support; this mechanism is called direct bioelectrocatalysis. Under pure hydrogen the efficiencies in energy conversion of the enzyme electrode and the noble metal based commercial fuel electrode are similar concerning both the hydrogen equilibrium potential achieved and the current densities in H₂ oxidation. However, the use of the enzyme electrodes completely avoids the problem of poisoning the anode by the impurities of carbon monoxide present in reforming gas, which limits the use of cheap hydrogen containing fuel. The stability of the biological catalysts can be drastically improved by their immobilization on electrode supports, which provide the development of commercially competitive biofuel cells.     

Enzyme coated glass pH-electrode: Its fabrication and applications in the determination of urea in blood samples

A new enzyme coated electrode for the determination of urea in blood samples has been developed. It is based on the encapsulation of urease enzyme in the porous silicate matrix by the sol-gel technique on a glass electrode for the purpose of sensing urea in blood samples. Various parameters like the effect of pH, selection of a suitable buffer of appropriate concentration and interference of common substances in blood samples have been evaluated to optimize the conditions for the determination of urea. The electrode can be used for the determination of urea in the concentration range 0.03-30.0 mM in a solution. The detection limit of the present enzyme-coated electrode is found to be 52 μg/ml of urea. The relative standard deviation for the electrode-to-electrode reproducibility is found to be 2.4% for the determination of 0.1 mM of urea (six replicate electrodes). Sol-gel matrix containing immobilized enzyme was stable for about 25 days at ∼4 °C with 80% urease activity. Urea content in various clinical blood samples has been estimated using this electrode and the results are found to be in good agreement with the standard clinical methods as reported in the literature.     

The steady-state current at microcylinder electrodes modified by enzymes immobilized in conducting or non-conducting material

A diffusion-kinetic model is presented for an enzyme-modified microcylinder electrode, where the enzyme reaction generates an electro-active product. Simple, approximate expressions are derived for the steady-state current in cases where the enzyme is immobilized in a metallically conducting, or a non-conducting matrix. The model is also extended to the chemical sensor case, of a conducting polymer without enzyme. The model is used to analyze steady-state signals for glucose produced by Pt-coated carbon fibres, on which glucose oxidase has been entrapped in poly(1,2-diaminobenzene).