A new anion-sensitive biosensor using an ion-sensitive field effect transistor and a light-driven chloride pump,halorhodopsin

A new biosensor sensitive to chloride anion using a light-driven chloride pump protein, halorhodopsin (hR), and an ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) has been developed. Membrane vesicles of halophilic bacteria containing hR were immobilized in the matrix of polyvinylbutyral resin on the surface of the ISFET. The gate voltage of this device changed in the min time scale under yellow light illumination. The response for chloride anion increased according to the increase of chloride anion concentration in the bulk aqueous phase. In the dark, the gate potential did not change even in the presence of chloride anion. These chloride-dependent gate potential changes of the hR-ISFET indicate that the chloride pumping by hR is active on the ISFET and that ISFET detects the light-dependent chloride transport by hR.