Urea potentiometric biosensor based on urease immobilized on chitosan membranes

Potentiometric biosensors based on urease (E.C. 3.5.1.5.) immobilized on chitosan membranes coupled to all-solid-state nonactin ammonium ion selective electrodes are described. The enzyme was immobilized on the chitosan membranes by four procedures: (A) adsorption; (B) adsorption followed by reticulation with dilute aqueous glutaraldehyde solution; (C) activation with glutaraldehyde followed by contact with the enzyme solution; and (D) activation with glutaraldehyde, contact with the enzyme solution and reduction of the Schiff base with sodium borohydride. The response characteristics of the biosensors obtained with these enzymatic membranes were determined and compared. The biosensor with best response characteristics, obtained by procedure (B), showed the following characteristics of response to urea: (i) linearity in the 10(-4) to 10(-2) M range; (ii) slope of up to 56 mV per decade; (iii) response time between 30 s and 2 min; and (iv) lifetime of 2 months. This biosensor was tested in the determination of urea in blood serum samples.     

Preparation and Properties of Urease Immobilized onto Glutaraldehyde Cross-linked Chitosan Beads

Urease was immobilized onto the glutaraldehyde cross-linked chitosan beads that were prepared under microwave irradiation. The activity and the yield of activity of immobilized urease was 10.83 U/g B and 47.7%, respectively. The conditions of urease immobilization were optimized. The properties of the immobilized urease were investigated and compared with that of the free enzyme.     

Acrylamide grafted poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers activated by glutaraldehyde as support for urease

Urease was covalently immobilized on acrylamide-grafted poly (ethylene terephthalate) fibers after glutaraldehyde activation. Ureasecontaining fibers showed a very high operational stability and reusability, with about 85% of the initial activity after 90 d. The thermostability of the bound urease was positively influenced, and a slight change in optimum temperature was observed after immobilization, when compared with the free enzyme. The pH optimum of both types of urease was found to be the same, but immobilized urease showed an increased stability in a broader range of pH. The kinetic studies exhibited a slightly higherK _m value for the bound enzyme, with a value of 4.50 mmol dm^-3, when compared with the free enzyme (2.82 mmol dm^-3), which demonstrated that the immobilization procedure did not cause an unfavorable conformation for the substrate-product formation and a hindered diffusion. The graft yield was also found effective on maximum activity of immobilized urease. Twenty-five percent of the acrylamide-grafted fibers exhibited the highest enzymatic activity together with the highest water uptake. Higher graft yields were not suitable for the immobilization of the enzyme molecules as a result of crosslinks formed between the poly(acrylamide) chains and glutaraldehyde.     

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) urease immobilized on glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan beads and its analytical applications

Urease from pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) was covalently linked to crab shell chitosan beads using glutaraldehyde. The optimum immobilization (64% activity) was observed at 4°C, with a protein concentration of 0.24 mg/bead and 3% glutaraldehyde. The immobilized enzyme stored in 0.05 M Trisacetate buffer, pH 7.3, at 4°C had a t _1/2 of 110 d. There was practically no leaching of enzyme (<3%) from the immobilized beads in 30 d. The immobilized urease was used 10 times at an interval of 24 h between each use with 80% residual activity at the end of the period. The chitosan-immobilized urease showed a significantly higher Michaelis constant (8.3 mM) compared to that of the soluble urease (3.0 mM). Its apparent optimum pH also shifted from 7.3 to 8.5. Immobilized urease showed an optimal temperature of 77°C, compared with 47°C for the soluble urease. Time-dependent kinetics of the thermal denaturation of immobilized urease was studied and found to be monophasic in nature compared to biphasic in nature for soluble enzyme. This immobilized urease was used to analyze blood urea of some of the clinical samples from the clinical pathology laboratories. The results compared favorably with those obtained by the various chemical/biochemical methods employed in the clinical pathology laboratories. A column packed with immobilized urease beads was also prepared in a syringe for the regular and continuous monitoring of serum urea concentrations.     

Application of screen printed electrodes in biochemical analysis

Screen printing technology has been used for the production of amperometric devices. The materials chosen were conventional thick film materials, (i.e. Al₂O₃-ceramic substrates and pastes of different composition, fired at 850°C). The working and the auxiliary electrodes were made by screen printing Pt paste, the connecting lines and reference electrodes in the three electrode system by printing AgPd paste. Enzymes were immobilised on the working electrodes either by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde or by adsorption in a screen printable graphite based paste. For both procedures the composition of the immobilisation matrix had to be optimised for each enzyme. It was observed that the achievable lower detection limits and standard deviations between different enzyme electrodes were lower when the enzymes were cross linked with glutaraldehyde, whereas the sensitivities were comparable for both immobilisation techniques and were improved further by the application of additional membranes acting as diffusion barriers. Stabilities of the enzyme electrodes were improved by electrode treatment (such as silanisation of the electrodes), optimisation of the measuring conditions and composition of the storage buffer.     

Metal-metal oxide enzyme electrodes for the determination of urea

Enzyme electrodes for urea assay based on metal-metal oxide (Sb, Bi, W, Ti + RuO₂) with urease immobilized in gelatin gel were examined. It was shown that the best electrodes were obtained for tungsten. The urea response of the electrodes was influenced by the pH and concentration of the buffer used. Increasing additions of inert salt (potassium chloride) change the pH characteristic of the tungsten electrode and buffer capacity, thus influencing the urea response of the electrode.     

Effects of fungal laccase immobilization procedures for the development of a biosensor for phenol compounds

Fungal laccase was immobilized on carbon-fiber electrodes using classical methods: physical adsorption, glutaraldehyde, carbodiimide and carbodiimide/glutaraldehyde. The highest biosensor response was obtained using carbodiimide/glutaraldehyde for coupling laccase to carboxyl groups on the carbon fibers. In this method, different percentages of glutaraldehyde had important effects on the sensitivity of the biosensor, the best percentage of glutaraldehyde being 10% (m/v). The behavior of the obtained biosensor was investigated in terms of sensitivity, operational range, pH and applied potential. The developed biosensor showed an optimum response at pH 5.0 and at an applied potential of -100 mV. The immobilized laccase retained a good activity for over 2 months.     

Critical evaluation of electrode design and matrix effects on monitoring organophosphate pesticides using composite carbon nanotube-modified electrodes

Carbon nanotubes (CNT)/Nafion-modified glassy carbon (GC) electrodes were used to immobilize the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. The CNT-modified electrodes exhibited a sensitive and stable electrocatalytic behavior towards thiocholine (TCh). Compared to ordinary GC electrodes modified with Nafion, a substantial (500-mV) decrease in the overvoltage of the TCh oxidation reaction is observed, along with a tenfold enhancement in the amperometric response. The CNT/Nafion/AChE electrode has very good stability of at least a month compared to surfaces made without crosslinking in the absence and presence of Nafion. Under optimal loadings of CNT, Nafion, AChE, and glutaraldehyde, a solution of CNT/Nafion in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) containing 4 mg/mL CNT and 0.01% Nafion was used to construct the electrodes in order to maximize the sensitivity of the biosensor for inhibition studies. An optimal enzyme loading of 0.137 U and crosslinking in 0.01% glutaraldehyde for 1 h was also needed to achieve this goal. The prepared electrodes had very good reproducibility to 1.0 mM acetylthiocholine (ATCh) (relative standard deviation [RSD] <5% for eight electrodes). Using paraoxon as a model pesticide, the biosensor was able to detect as low as 1.0 nM after 30 min of incubation at 30 °C. Using a log scale, the biosensor had good linearity in the concentration range 50?C800 nM, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The prepared biosensor was used to test real water samples spiked with paraoxon and showed good correlation with a calibration curve using phosphate buffer.     

Ultrasensitive polyaniline-nickel oxide cladding modified with urease immobilized intrinsic optical fiber urea biosensor

Herein, we report a polyaniline-nickel oxide (PANI-NiO) nanocomposite as an efficient immobilization matrix for development the optical fiber urea biosensor. Optical fiber sensing probe was developed by removing some portion of optical fiber at middle and modified with PANI-NiO matrix. After the modification of cladding removed portion, it was immobilized with enzyme urease via glutaraldehyde as a bi-functional cross-linking agent. The physicochemical and optical properties of the PANI-NiO matrix were explored by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic techniques. The characteristic features and performance of the developed sensor were evaluated via recording the output power and modal power distribution by means of a charge-coupled device camera. The developed urea biosensor exhibits a selective response towards urea concentrations in the linear range 1 nM–100 mM with a lower detection limit of 1 nM. Sensor recorded as a 40 days stability and response time ~1 min. Thus, the obtained experimental results of the developed sensor promote its applicability with practical prospects in diverse field.     

Application of the Ugi reaction for the preparation of enzyme electrodes

Glucose oxidase and catalase were immobilized via the Ugi reaction by means of cyclohexyl isocyanide and glutaraldehyde on a nylon net partially hydrolysed by hydrochloric acid. A specific enzyme sensor for D-glucose was made by fixing the nylon net with immobilized enzymes on the tip of a Clark-type oxygen sensor. For comparison purposes glucose oxidase and catalase were also co-immobilized in the absence of cyclohexyl isocyanide or only glucose oxidase was immobilized with and without cyclohexyl isocyanide. The prepared biosensors were characterized by the specific activity of glucose oxidase and its dependence on Ph and temperature and by the apparent Michaelis constant. The linear range of the biosensor response to the substrate concentration and the stability of the biosensor were determined. The long-term stabilities of the enzyme electrodes were compared and the advangtage of the developed method was demonstrated.     

Preparation of a potentiometric immobilized urease electrode and urea determination in serum

Polyvinylalcohol was activated with 2-fluoro-1-methylpyridiniumtoluene-4-sulphonate and urease (EC.3.5.1.5) was covalently linked to the activated matrix. PVA-urease was then immobilized on the surface of a pH glass electrode with gelatine gel and it was cross-linked using glutaraldehyde. This potentiometric membrane electrode provides a linearity to urea in the 8.910⁻⁵ to 1.110⁻³ M concentration range, but by changing the buffer concentration can be studied in the range of 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻² M urea concentration. Reproducibility experiments (n:20) were carried out with the urease enzyme electrode and with photometric methods for pooled serum sample. Average values for the two methods were 5.96 and 5.86 mM, variation coefficients were 2.5 and 3.5% respectively.     

Development of urease based amperometric biosensors for the inhibitive determination of Hg (II)

Enzymatic amperometric procedures for measurement of Hg (II), based on the inhibitive action of this metal on urease enzyme activity, were developed. Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) and gold nanoparticles modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (AuNPs/SPCEs) were used as supports for the cross-linking inmobilization of the enzyme urease. The amperometric response of urea was affected by the presence of Hg (II) ions which caused a decreasing in the current intensity. The optimum working conditions were found using experimental design methodology. Under these conditions, repeatability and reproducibility for both types of biosensors were determined, reaching values below 6% in terms of residual standard deviation. The detection limit obtained for Hg (II) was 4.2 × 10^?6 M for urease/SPCE biosensor and 5.6 × 10^?8 M for urease/AuNPs/SPCE biosensor. Analysis of the possible effect of the presence of foreign ions in the solution was performed. The method was applied to determine levels of Hg (II) in spiked human plasma samples.     

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.     

Rapid and simple preparation of a reagentless glucose electrochemical biosensor

A rapid and simple procedure was developed for the preparation of a highly stable and leach-proof glucose oxidase (GOx)-bound glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Crosslinked GOx via glutaraldehyde was drop-cast on a KOH-pretreated GCE followed by drop-casting of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to form a stable bioactive layer. At -0.45 V, the biosensor exhibited a wide dynamic detection range of 0.5-48 mM for commercial glucose and 1.3-28.2 mM for Sugar-Chex blood glucose linearity standards. Several endogenous electroactive substances and drug metabolites commonly found in blood were tested and provoked no signal response. To our knowledge, the developed procedure is the most rapid method for preparing a glucose biosensor. The biosensor suffered no biofouling after 7 days of immersion in Sugar-Chex blood glucose. With excellent production reproducibility, GOx-bound electrodes stored dry at room temperature retained their initial activity after several weeks.     

New Urea Biosensor Based on Urease Enzyme Obtained from Helycobacter pylori

The urease enzyme of Helicobacter pylori was isolated from biopsy sample obtained from antrum big curvature cell extracts. A new urea biosensor was prepared by immobilizing urease enzyme isolated from Helicobacter pylori on poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) ammonium membrane electrode by using nonactine as an ammonium ionophore. The effect of pH, buffer concentration, and temperature for the biosensor prepared with urease from H. pylori were obtained as 6.0, 5 mM, and 25 °C, respectively. We also investigated urease concentration, stirring rate, and enzyme immobilization procedures in response to urea of the enzyme electrode. The linear working range of the biosensor extends from 1 × 10(-5) to 1 × 10(-2) M and they showed an apparent Nernstian response within this range. Urea enzyme electrodes prepared with urease enzymes obtained from H. pylori and Jack bean based on PVC membrane ammonium-selective electrode showed very good analytical parameters: high sensitivity, dynamic stability over 2 months with less decrease of sensitivity, response time 1-2 min. The analytical characteristics were investigated and were compared those of the urea biosensor prepared with urease enzyme isolated from Jack bean prepared at the same conditions. It was observed that rapid determinations of human serum urea amounts were also made possible with both biosensors.     

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.     

A Powder Based Polyaniline Carbon Paste Electrode for Urea Analysis

A new polyaniline carbon paste electrode prepared by mixing polyaniline (emeraldine), nafion, graphite powder and urease for urea analysis was exploited. The ratio of polyaniline, nafion, urease and graphite for the construction of the electrodes and the optimal conditions for urea determination were studied. The detection limit of this sensor for urea is 5 μM and the linearity from 5 μM to 7.5 mM is obtained in FIA. This sensor has a response time of 90s and shows good reproducibility and stability (RSD, 6.3%, n = 43). The blood samples from a patient during blood dialysis were taken and analyzed. The urea concentrations in blood obtained from this sensor are comparable with urea test kit method.     

Reactions with enzymes covalently bonded to heterogeneous ultrafiltration membranes

The hydrolysis of urea by urease, a model system for the reaction of enzymes with a low molecular weight substance capable of permeating ultrafiltration membranes without resistance, and the degradation of dextran by dextranase, a substance highly rejected by appropriate membranes, are described. The enzymes are covalently bonded to heterogeneous aminated polysulfone, using glutaraldehyde or diazo compounds as immobilization agents. Preliminary results are given.     

Design and application of a flow cell for carbon-film based electrochemical enzyme biosensors

A flow cell has been designed for use with an electrochemical enzyme biosensor, based on low-cost carbon-film electrodes. Three types of mediators were used: cobalt and copper hexacyanoferrates and poly(neutral red) (PNR), covered with glucose oxidase (GOx) immobilised by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde in the presence of bovine serum albumin or inside a oxysilane sol–gel network. Mixtures of sol–gel precursors were made from 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTOS) together with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS), tetraethyloxysilane (TEOS) or 3-glycidoxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (GOPMOS), and the best chosen for encapsulation. Optimisation in batch mode, using amperometric detection at fixed potential, showed the PNR-GOx modified carbon-film electrodes to be best for flow analysis for both glutaraldehyde and sol–gel enzyme immobilisation. Both types of enzyme electrode were tested under flow conditions and the reproducibility and stability of the biosensors were evaluated. The biosensors were used for fermentation monitoring of glucose in grape must and interference studies were also performed.