Detection of Human Interleukine‐2 Gene Using a Label‐Free Electrochemical DNA Hybridization Biosensor on the Basis of a Non‐Inosine Substituted Probe

The human interleukine‐2 gene (hIL‐2) is detected with a label‐free DNA hybridization biosensor using a non‐inosine substituted probe. The sensor relies on the immobilization of a 20‐mer antisense single strand oligonucleotide (chIL‐2) related to the human interleukine‐2 gene on the pencil graphite electrode (PGE) as a probe. The guanine oxidation signal was monitored using anodic differential pulse voltammetry (ADPV). The electrochemical pretreatment of the polished PGE at 1.80 V for 5 min is suggested. Then, 5 min immobilization at 0.50 V was found as the optimum condition for immobilization of the probe. The electrochemical detection of hybridization between chIL‐2 and hIL‐2 as a target was accomplished. The selectivity of the biosensor was studied using noncomplementary oligonucleotides. Diagnostic performance of the biosensor is described and the detection limit is found 36 pg/μL.     

EQCM and Fluoroelectrochemical Studies on the Catalytic Oxidation of NADH at a Pencil 8B‐Scrawled Gold Electrode with High Detection Sensitivity

We report for the first time the effective catalytic electrooxidation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) on the pencil 8B‐scrawled gold electrode of an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The EQCM allowed us to quantitatively evaluate the catalytic activity of the pencil‐scrawled Au electrode. With increasing the mass of modified pencil powders, the peak potential for NADH oxidation shifted negatively, with maximum shift of ?0.35 V at saturated pencil modification; the NADH‐oxidation peak current density (j_p) was also notably increased, and the j_p at saturated pencil modification was found to be larger than those at conventional pencil 8B and bare Au electrodes. Sensitive amperometric detection of NADH was achieved at the gold electrode with saturated pencil modification, with low detection potential (0.4 V versus SCE), low detection limit (0.08 μmol L^?1) and wide linear range (0.2–710 μmol L^?1). The fluoroelectrochemical measurements of NADH at bare and pencil‐modified gold electrodes were also conducted with satisfactory results. The convenient and low‐cost modification of pencil powders on the Au electrode may have presented a new functional surface of the EQCM, which is recommended for wider applications to bioelectrochemical studies, especially in view of the EQCM's capability of providing abundant in situ information in relevant processes.     

Development of Simple Electrochemical Sensor for Selective Determination of Methadone in Biological Samples Using Multi‐walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified Pencil Graphite Electrode

The electrochemical sensor was developed for determination of methadone (MTD) using multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) modified pencil graphite electrode (MWCNT‐PGE). It was found that the oxidation peak current of MTD at the MWCNT‐PGE was greatly improved compared with that of the bare‐PGE. At the MWCNT‐PGE, well‐defined anodic peak of MTD was observed at about 0.7 V (in pH 7 solution). The influence of several parameters on the determination of MTD was investigated. At optimum experimental conditions, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used for determination of MTD, which exhibited a linear calibration graph of Ip versus MTD concentration in the range of 0.1–15 µM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The calculated detection limit for S/N = 3 was 87 nM. It has been shown that the peaks obtained for oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA) and MTD in their mixture could be well resolved by differential pulse voltammetry, permitting us to develop a sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor for determination of MTD in the presence of AA and UA. Finally, MWCNT‐PGE was used for determination of MTD in biological samples, such as human serum and urine, using the standard addition procedure and the results were quite promising.     

Caffeic Acid‐Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode for the Simultaneous Determination of Epinephrine and Dopamine

A stable electroactive thin film of poly(caffeic acid) has been deposited on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode by potentiostatic technique in an aqueous solution containing caffeic acid. The electrochemical behaviors of epinephrine (EP), dopamine (DA) and their mixture have been studied. The oxidation peaks of EP and DA at the poly(caffeic acid) modified glassy carbon electrode appeared at the same potential, but the anodic peak currents of the mixture of DA and EP were almost equal to the sum of individual anodic peak currents of EP and DA, whereas the cathodic peak current only related to the concentration of DA under appropriate condition. Base on these, the simultaneous voltammetric measurement of EP and DA at the poly(caffeic acid) film modified electrode has been developed. Ascorbic acid (AA) had no interference with the simultaneous determination of EP and DA under the same condition because the oxidative peak potential of AA was less than those of DA and EP. The modified electrode has been satisfactorily used for the simultaneous determination of EP and DA in real samples.     

The Influence of the Cathodic Pretreatment on the Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine by Poly(1‐aminoanthracene) Modified Electrode

In this study we demonstrated the influence of the cathodic pretreatment of poly(1‐aminoanthracene) (PAA) electropolymerized on a platinum electrode for determination of dopamine (DA). The DA electrochemical response was obtained after a cathodic pretreatment of the PAA electrode which consisted of applying a potential of ?0.7 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for 3 s before each measurement. The pretreatment of the electrode changed the PAA electrocatalytic properties so that the electrode began to present electrochemical response to DA without interference of ascorbic acid (AA). The anodic peak currents determined by differential pulse voltammetry using pretreated PAA showed a linear dependence on the DA concentration from 0.56 to 100 µM with a detection limit of 0.13 µM and a correlation coefficient of 0.9986. The electrode exhibits a relative standard deviation of 1.2 % for ten successive measurements of a 0.5 mM DA solution. The analysis by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy show a homogeneous and nanostructured film with globular structures with diameter of about 20 nm. The analytical results obtained for DA determination at a pretreated PAA electrode in pharmaceutical formulation sample were in good agreement with those obtained by a comparative procedure at a 95 % confidence level. PAA electrode after the pretreatment showed electrochemical responses to DA with excellent selectivity, sensitivity, and high stability without interference of AA.     

Voltammetric Determination of Hemoglobin Using a Pencil Lead Electrode

In this paper the electrochemical behavior of hemoglobin (Hb) immobilized on a pencil lead electrode (PLE) was investigated. Immobilization of Hb on the pencil lead electrode was performed by nonelectrochemical and electrochemical methods. In phosphate buffer solution with pH 7.0 Hb showed a pair of well‐defined and nearly reversible redox waves (the anodic and cathodic peak potentials are located at ?0.18 V and ?0.22 V, respectively). The dependence of the anodic peak potential (E_pa) on the pH of the buffer solution indicated that the conversion of Hb? Fe(III)/Hb? Fe(II) is a one‐electron‐transfer reaction process coupled with one‐proton‐transfer. In addition the effect of scan rate on peak currents and peak separation potential was investigated and electrochemical parameters such as α and k_s were calculated. In the second part of this work, the ability of the electrode for determination of Hb concentration was investigated. The results showed a linear dynamic range from 0.15 to 2 µM and a detection limit of 0.11 µM. The relative standard deviation is 4.1 % for 4 successive determinations of a 1 µM Hb solution.     

Pyrolyzed Photoresist Carbon Electrodes for Microchip Electrophoresis with Dual‐Electrode Amperometric Detection

The fabrication and evaluation of pyrolyzed photoresist films (PPF) for microchip capillary electrophoresis (CE) with dual‐electrode electrochemical (EC) detection is described. The sensitivity, linearity, and reproducibility were evaluated using catecholamines and related compounds, including dopamine (DA), 5‐hydroxyindole‐3‐acetic acid (5‐HIAA), ascorbic acid (AA), and catechol. Initial studies with DA show the response of the PPF electrodes to be linear between 25 and 500 μM (r²=0.999) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 5 μM (S/N=3) and sensitivity of 5.8 pA/μM. Selectivity was further enhanced by employing dual‐electrode detection in the series configuration for detection of species exhibiting chemically reversible redox reactions.     

Modified platinum electrode with phytic acid and single-walled carbon nanotube: Application to the selective determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic and uric acids

A platinum (Pt) electrode modified by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and phytic acid (PA) was investigated by voltammetric methods in buffer solution. The PA-SWNTs/Pt-modified electrode demonstrated substantial enhancements in electrochemical sensitivity and selectivity towards dopamine (DA) in the presence of L-ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). The PA-SWNTs films promoted the electron transfer reaction of DA, while the PA film, acting as a negatively charged linker, combined with the positively charged DA to induced DA accumulation in the film at pH under 7.4. However, the PA film restrained the electrochemical response of the negatively charged AA due to the electrostatic repulsion. The anodic peak potentials of DA, AA and UA could be separated by electrochemical techniques, and the interferences from AA and UA were effectively eliminated in the DA determination. Linear calibration plots were obtained in the DA concentration range of 0.2-10 μM and the detection limit of the DA oxidation current was determined to be 0.08 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The results indicated that the modified electrode can be used to determine DA without interference from AA and UA, while ensuring good sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility.     

Renewable Pencil Electrodes for Highly Sensitive Anodic Stripping Voltammetric Determination of 3‐Hydroxyflavone and Morin in Bulk Form and in Biological Fluids

An electrochemical anodic adsorptive stripping procedure for ultra‐trace assay of 3‐hydroxyflavone (3HF) and Morin at a renewable pencil electrode (PGE) in bulk form and in biological fluids is described. The nature of the oxidation process of 3HF and Morin taking place at the PGE was characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the determination of the oxidation peak current is the basis of a simple, accurate and rapid method for quantification of 3HF by square‐wave anodic stripping voltammetry. Determination of Morin was achieved by square‐wave anodic adsorptive stripping voltammetry of the formed Morin? Cu(II) complex at a PGE. Factors influencing the trace measurements of 3HF and the Morin? Cu (II) complex at a PGE are assessed. The limits of detection and quantitation for the determination of 3HF and Morin in bulk form and in biological fluids were determined. The statistical analysis and the calibration curve data for trace determination of 3HF and Morin are reported.     

Open‐circuit Electrochemical Polymerization for the Sensitive Detection of Phenols

We report on a novel electrochemical method for electro‐polymerizing phenols under open‐circuit conditions. The method developed here is simple, sensitive, rapid, and overcomes the well‐documented surface fouling of carbon electrodes by phenols. A pre‐charged disposable graphite pencil electrode (pCGPE) was found to be useful for both phenol sampling and sensing. The pCGPE was prepared by charging the surface of a graphite pencil electrode by applying a cyclic voltammetry electrochemical treatment in a NaOH solution. Phenol sampling was accomplished by immersing the pCGPE into a phenol solution. This method permitted phenol detection with a detection limit of 4.17 nM (0.39 ppt).     

Ultraflexible Screen‐Printed Graphitic Electroanalytical Sensing Platforms

The pursuit of ultraflexible sensors has arisen from the recent implementation of electrochemical sensors into wearable clothing where extensive mechanical stress upon the sensing platform is likely to occur. Such scenarios have witnessed screen‐printed electrodes being incorporated into the waistband of undergarments for the determination of key analytes while others have reported incorporation into a neoprene wetsuit. In these conformations, the substrates which the sensors are printed upon need to be ultraflexible and capable of withstanding extensive individual mechanical stress. Therefore the composition, thickness and its combination of screen‐printed ink require extensive consideration. A common short‐coming within the field of screen‐printed derived sensors is the lack of consideration towards the substrate material employed, and is rather in favour of the development of new electrode geometries and screen‐printing inks. In this paper we explore the screen‐printing of graphite based electroanalytical sensing platforms onto graphic paper commonly used in house‐hold printers, and for the first time both tracing paper and ultraflexible polyester‐based substrates are used. These sensors are electrochemically benchmarked with the redox probes hexaammine‐ruthenium(III) chloride and potassium ferrocyanide(II). The effect of mechanical contortion upon two types of electrode substrates is also performed where it was found that these ultraflexible based polyester‐based electrodes are superior to the previously reported ultraflexible paper electrodes since they can withstand extensive mechanical contortion, yet they still give rise to useful electrochemical performances. Most importantly the ultraflexible polyester electrodes do not suffer from capillary action as observed in the case of paper‐based sensors causing the solution to wick‐up the electrode towards the electrical connections resulting in electrical shorting, therefore compromising the electrochemical measurement; as such this new substrate can be used as a replacement for paper‐based substrates and yet still be resilient to extreme mechanical contortion. A new configuration is also explored using these electrode substrate supports where the working carbon electrode contains the electrocatalyst, cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPC), and is benchmarked towards the electroanalytical sensing of the model analytes citric acid and hydrazine which demonstrate excellent sensing capabilities in comparison to previously reported screen‐printed electrodes.     

Selective Electrochemical Determination of Dopamine with Molecularly Imprinted Poly(Carbazole‐co‐Aniline) Electrode Decorated with Gold Nanoparticles

Dopamine (DA) is a significant neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, coexisting with uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA). UA and AA are easily oxidizable compounds having potentials close to that of DA for electrochemical analysis, resulting in overlapping voltammetric response. In this work, a novel molecularly imprinted (MI) electrochemical sensor was proposed for selective determination of DA (in the presence of up to 80‐fold excess of UA and AA), relying on gold nanoparticles (Au_nano)‐decorated glassy carbon (GC) electrode coated with poly(carbazole (Cz)‐co‐aniline (ANI)) copolymer film incorporating DA as template (DA imprinted‐GC/P(Cz‐co‐ANI)‐Au_nano electrode, DA‐MIP‐Au_nano electrode). The DA recognizing sensor electrode showed great electroactivity for analyte oxidation in 0.2 mol L^?1 pH 7 phosphate buffer. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) was performed within 10^?4–10^?5 mol L^?1 of DA, of which the oxidation peak potential was observed at 0.16 V. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 2.0×10^?6 and 6.7×10^?6 mol L^?1, respectively. Binary and ternary synthetic mixtures of DA‐UA, DA‐AA and DA‐UA‐AA yielded excellent recoveries for DA. Additionally, DA was quantitatively recovered from a real sample of bovine serum spiked with DA, and determined in concentrated dopamine injection solution. The developed SWV method was statistically validated against a literature potentiodynamic method using a caffeic acid modified‐GC electrode.     

Electrocatalytic Oxidation and Determination of Dopamine in the Presence of Ascorbic Acid and Uric Acid at a Poly (4‐(2‐Pyridylazo)‐Resorcinol) Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

A sensitive and selective electrochemical method for the determination of dopamine (DA) was developed using a 4‐(2‐Pyridylazo)‐Resorcinol (PAR) polymer film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The PAR polymer film modified electrode shows excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of DA in a phosphate buffer solution (PBS) (pH 4.0). The linear range of 5.0×10^?6–3.0×10^?5 M and detection limit of 2.0×10^?7 M were observed. Simultaneous detection of AA, DA and UA has also been demonstrated on the modified electrode. This work provides a simple and easy approach to selective detection of DA in the presence of AA and UA.     

One‐pot Electro‐polymerized SDPAS/PPy/CNTs Modified Electrode for Selective Detection of Dopamine

To improve the performance of dopamine (DA) detection in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA), sodium diphenylamine sulfonate/polypyrrole/multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (SDPAS/PPy/CNTs) film was fabricated on the surface of gold electrode through one‐pot polymerization initiated by electrochemical oxidation. SDPAS were covalently embedded into the backbone of PPy to endow the resultant film with numerous negative‐charged terminals, resulting in selective pre‐adsorption of protonated DA⁺ on the electrode and switching the following anodic reaction to be an adsorption‐controlled process. The detection of DA in the presence of AA and UA by square wave voltammetry method showed an outstanding repeatability with the relative standard deviation of 0.45 %. A good linear relationship was observed between the oxidative peak current and the concentration of DA in the range of 0.827–104 μM (R²=0.993), and the limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 0.105 μM (S/N=3).     

Highly Selective and Sensitive Detection of Dopamine in the Presence of Excessive Ascorbic Acid Using Electrodes Modified with C60‐Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Films

Electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA) in the presence of a large excess of ascorbic acid (AA) was investigated with a novel all‐carbon nanocomposite film of C₆₀‐MWCNTs (C₆₀‐functionalized multi‐walled carbon nanotubes) using a bare MWCNTs film as control. Although both films can selectively detect DA from AA by separating their oxidation potentials, the C₆₀‐MWCNTs film shows special selectivity and good sensitivity for detecting DA. On one hand, the C₆₀‐MWCNTs composite film shows a higher activity for DA oxidation with enhanced peak current. On the other hand, the C₆₀‐MWCNTs composite film effectively suppresses the oxidation of AA. Remarkably, it is found that the oxidation current of DA is over 2 times higher than that of AA even when the concentration of AA is about 3 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than that of DA. This offers a tremendous advantage for the simple and clean detection of DA free of the interfering AA signal in a real assay. Cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectrometry are used to characterize the C₆₀‐MWCNTs composite film. These novel properties are interpreted to arise from the facile electron transfer between C₆₀ and MWCNTs in the C₆₀‐MWCNTs nanocomposite film.     

Dual‐Functionalization Device for Therapy through Dopamine Release and Monitoring

A dual‐functional device is fabricated to release progressively dopamine (DA) from a biohydrogel under real‐time monitoring via electrochemical detection. For this purpose, a poly‐γ‐glutamic acid biohydrogel is assembled with a poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) layer, previously deposited onto a screen printed electrode. The biohydrogel is formulated to achieve dimensional stability and maximum DA‐loading capacity. Conditions for DA‐loading are influenced by the oxidation of the neurotransmitter in acid environments and the poor resistance of PEDOT to the lyophilization. The performance of the device is proved in a medium with the physiological pH of blood and the cerebrospinal fluid. The progressive release of DA is successfully monitored by the device, the limit of detection and sensitivity of the integrated sensor being 450 × 10⁻⁹m and 8 × 10⁻⁵ mA µm⁻¹, respectively. The effect of electrochemical stimulation in the kinetics of the DA release is also investigated applying potential ramps in cyclic phase to alter the biohydrogel morphology.     

Detection of Uric Acid in the Presence of Dopamine and High Concentration of Ascorbic Acid Using PDDA Modified Graphite Electrode

The properties of graphite electrode (Gr) modified with poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (PDDA) for the detection of uric acid (UA) in the presence of dopamine (DA) and high concentration of ascorbic acid (AA) have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The polymer modified graphite electrode was prepared by a very simple method just by immersing the graphite electrode in PDDA solution for 20 minutes. The PDDA/Gr modified electrode displayed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of UA, DA and AA compared to that at the bare graphite electrode. The electrochemical oxidation signals of UA, DA and AA are well resolved into three distinct peaks with peak potential separations of 220 mV, 168 mV and 387 mV between AA‐DA, DA‐UA and AA‐UA respectively in cyclic voltammetry studies and the corresponding peak potential separations are 230 mV, 130 mV and 354 mV respectively in differential pulse voltammetry. The lowest detection limits obtained for UA, DA and AA were 1×10^?7 M, 2×10^?7 M and 800×10^?9 M respectively. The PDDA/Gr electrode efficiently eliminated the interference of DA and a high concentration of AA in the determination of UA with good selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility. The modified electrode was also successfully applied for simultaneous determination of UA, DA and AA in their ternary mixture.     

A Novel Functionalized Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotube Modified Electrode and Its Application in Determination of Dopamine and Uric Acid in the Presence of High Concentrations of Ascorbic Acid

Multilayer films of negatively charged single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and positively charged cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) have been deposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using layer‐by‐layer (LBL) technique. The assembled multilayer films have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements. The voltammetric signal of dopamine (DA), uric acid (UA), and ascorbic acid (AA) could be observed well‐separated with the assembled SWCNTs/CPB multilayer films in pH 7.0 PBS. The oxidation peak potentials of DA, UA, and AA are centered at about 169 mV, 292 mV and ?10 mV on differential pulse voltammograms (DPVs), respectively. The peak‐to‐peak potential separation was 123 mV, 179 mV, and 302 mV for DA‐UA, DA‐AA, and UA‐AA in DPVs, respectively. This permits the simultaneous detection of DA and UA in the presence of AA.     

DNA/Poly(p-aminobenzensulfonic acid) composite bi-layer modified glassy carbon electrode for determination of dopamine and uric acid under coexistence of ascorbic acid

A nano-composite of DNA/poly(p-aminobenzensulfonic acid) bi-layer modified glassy carbon electrode as a biosensor was fabricated by electro-deposition method. The DNA layer was electrochemically deposited on the top of electropolymerized layer of poly(p-aminobenzensulfonic acid) (Pp-ABSA). Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectrum were used for characterization. It demonstrated that the deposited Pp-ABSA formed a 2-D fractal patterned nano-structure on the electrode surface, and which was further covered by a uniform thin DNA layer. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectrum were used to characterize the deposition, and demonstrated the conductivity of the Pp-ABSA layer. The biosensor was applied to the detection of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA) in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA). In comparison with DNA and Pp-ABSA single layer modified electrodes, the composite bi-layer modification provided superior electrocatalytic actively towards the oxidation of DA, UA and AA, and separated the originally overlapped differential pulse voltammetric signals of UA, DA and AA oxidation at the bare electrode into three well-defined peaks at pH 7 solution. The peak separation between AA and DA, AA and UA was 176 mV and 312 mV, respectively. In the presence of 1.0 mM AA, the anodic peak current was a linear function of the concentration of DA in the range 0.19-13 microM. The detection limit was 88 nM DA (s/n=3). The anodic peak current of UA was also a linear function of concentration in the range 0.4-23 microM with a detection limit of 0.19 microM in the presence of 0.5 mM AA. The superior sensing ability was attributed to the composite nano-structure. An interaction mechanism was proposed.     

Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Dopamine by Ferrocene in Lipid Film Cast on a Glassy Carbon Electrode

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