Electrical communication between electrode and dehydrogenase by a ferrocene-labeled high molecular-weight cofactor derivative: application to a reagentless biosensor

A ferrocene-labeled high molecular weight cofactor derivative (PEI-Fc-NAD) was prepared by attaching both ferrocene and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) to a water soluble polyelectrolyte, polyethylenimine (PEI). Approximately 9.8% and 2.9% of all the primary amino groups of PEI were coupled with ferrocene and the bioactive cofactor, respectively. The cyclic voltammograms of PEI-Fc-NAD exhibited a one-electron transfer process, and the difference between the anodic and cathodic peak potential was found to be 80 mV. The PEI-Fc-NAD was used together with NAD-dependent dehydrogenase to construct a reagentless biosensor. An NAD-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was selected as the model enzyme, and both ADH and PEI-Fc-NAD were retained onto the sensing area of gold electrodes by a dialysis membrane or immobilized by layer-by-layer adsorption method. In both cases, the modified electrodes showed current response to ethanol without the addition of native NAD⁺ to the system, which suggested that the electrical communication between ADH and the electrode was achieved through PEI-Fc-NAD. In summary, PEI-Fc-NAD provides a new way for immobilization of mediator and cofactor, and exhibits the potential as a platform for constructing reagentless NAD-dependent dehydrogenase biosensors.