Electroactive polyglycine coatings for nanobiosensing applications: Label-free DNA hybridization, DNA-Antitumor agent interaction and antitumor agent determination

MoS2-WS2 decorated carbon nanotubes amplified electro-nanosensor for label-free voltammetric detection of DNA

The development of functional interfaces for healthcare applications is in great demand to perform sensitive and reliable testing. For this purpose, in the present study, the use of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) combined with carbon nanotubes modified pencil graphite electrode (PGE) was demonstrated for fish sperm double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (fsDNA) detection. The advanced system consisted of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which exhibited superior and fascinating electrochemical properties on PGE as a result of synergetic effect occurred between the materials. The MoS2-WS2-MWCNTs incorporated PGE (MoS2-WS2-MWCNTs/E) was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and electrochemical techniques. The elemental composition of the sensing platform was monitored with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Specific parameters, including the amount of components in the hybrid material were optimized. MoS2-WS2-MWCNTs/E presented a good linear range for fsDNA between 0.1 and 50mgL-1 with a low detection limit of 0.05 mg L-1 by using the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. The detection performance of the resulting electrode was compared with the responses of MoS2-MWCNTs/E and WS2-MWCNTs/E as well. This sensing platform establishes the use of dichalcogenides-carbon nanotubes-based material for facile, sensitive, and reproducible sensing applications.

Electrochemistry as a Powerful Tool for Investigations of Antineoplastic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

Cancer is most frequently treated with antineoplastic agents (ANAs) that are hazardous to patients undergoing chemotherapy and the healthcare workers who handle ANAs in the course of their duties. All aspects related to hazardous oncological drugs illustrate that the monitoring of ANAs is essential to minimize the risks associated with these drugs. Among all analytical techniques used to test ANAs, electrochemistry holds an important position. This review, for the first time, comprehensively describes the progress done in electrochemistry of ANAs by means of a variety of bare or modified (bio)sensors over the last four decades (in the period of 1982-2021). Attention is paid not only to the development of electrochemical sensing protocols of ANAs in various biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical matrices but also to achievements of electrochemical techniques in the examination of the interactions of ANAs with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), carcinogenic cells, biomimetic membranes, peptides, and enzymes. Other aspects, including the enantiopurity studies, differentiation between single-stranded and double-stranded DNA without using any label or tag, studies on ANAs degradation, and their pharmacokinetics, by means of electrochemical techniques are also commented. Finally, concluding remarks that underline the existence of a significant niche for the basic electrochemical research that should be filled in the future are presented.

Voltammetric Measurement of Antioxidant Activity by Prevention of Cu(II)-Induced Oxidative Damage on DNA Bases Using a Modified Electrode

The protective effect of antioxidants using electrochemical techniques can be evaluated by examining the oxidative changes in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nucleobases. In this study, a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-decorated and multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-Nafion-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE/AuNP/MWCNT-Nafion) was developed to evaluate the preventive ability of antioxidants on oxidative DNA damage. A modified working electrode was prepared and characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The developed electrochemical method relies on two phenomena: (i) reactive species (RS) produced by dissolved oxygen in the presence of copper(II) partially damage the DNA immobilized on the electrode surface and (ii) antioxidant compounds prevent this damage by scavenging the formed RS. Changes in guanine, adenine, and cytosine oxidation signals resulting from DNA damage were measured using differential pulse stripping voltammetry before/after the interaction of dsDNA with Cu(II) while antioxidants were absent or present. The DNA protective ability of antioxidants was assessed for a number of antioxidant compounds (i.e., ascorbic acid, gallic acid, epicatechin, catechin, epicatechin gallate, glutathione, chlorogenic acid, N-acetyl cysteine, rosmarinic acid, quercetin, and rutin). Quercetin was found to show the highest antioxidant effect, and its limit of detection was determined as 1 μM. The manufactured biosensor was put in an application for the determination of antioxidant activity of herbal teas.

A new electrochemical DNA biosensor for determination of anti-cancer drug chlorambucil based on a polypyrrole/flower-like platinum/NiCo2O4/pencil graphite electrode

In the current study, DNA immobilization was performed on pencil graphite (PG) modified with a polypyrrole (PPy) and flower-like Pt/NiCo2O4 (FL-Pt/NiCo2O4) nanocomposite, as a new sensitive electrode to detect chlorambucil (CHB). Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were employed to characterize the synthesized FL-Pt/NiCo2O4 and PPy/FL-Pt/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites. Moreover, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was selected to assess the guanine and adenine electrochemical responses on the DNA sensor. The CHB determination was performed using the maximum currents towards adenine and guanine in the acetate buffer solution (ABS). According to the results, ds-DNA/PPy/FL-Pt/NiCo2O4/PGE was able to detect the different concentrations of CHB in the range between 0.018 and 200 μM, with a detection limit of (LOD) of 4.0 nM. The new biosensor was also exploited for CHB determination in real samples (serum, urine and drug), the results of which revealed excellent recoveries (97.5% to 103.8%). Furthermore, the interaction between ds-DNA and CHB was studied using electrochemistry, spectrophotometry and docking whose outputs confirmed their effective interaction.

A novel electrochemical glucose biosensor based on a poly (L-aspartic acid)-modified carbon-paste electrode

A new amperometric biosensor was fabricated by means of electropolymerization of L-aspartic acid on a carbon-paste electrode (CPE) for the bioelectrochemical determination of glucose. The electropolymerization process was conducted via cyclic voltammetry (CV). The modified CPE with poly (L-aspartic acid) (PAA) provided free carboxyl groups so as to immobilize the glucose oxidase (GOx), and further, enhanced the electrocatalytic activity of the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The biosensor displayed both good stability and good bioactivity. The sensitivity of the prepared biosensor was 5.3 µA cm^-2mM^-1. Its linear range extended from 0.05 mM to 1.0 mM, with the low limit of detection (LOD) being 69.2 µM. The Michaelis-Menten constant was found to be 1.17 mM. Furthermore, the biosensor showed good anti-interference ability in relation to dopamine, uric acid, and ascorbic acid. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PAA/CPE is a promising material for the fabrication of glucose biosensor.

Development of a new electrochemical DNA biosensor based on Eu3+-doped NiO for determination of amsacrine as an anti-cancer drug: Electrochemical, spectroscopic and docking studies

The present research reported a new electrochemical biosensor based on ds-DNA/Eu³⁺ doped NiO/CPE to detect amsacrine. Therefore, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, docking, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) have been used to study the interactions between amsacrine and dsDNA. Then, experimental parameters affected DNA immobilization and interactions between amsacrine and ds-DNA have been optimized. Afterwards, guanine oxidation peak current of ds-DNA has been chosen as a signal to analyze amsacrine in a concentration ranging between 0.1 and 100.0 μM and finally, limit of detection (LOD) of 0.05 μM has been calculated at optimal condition. Ultimately, it was found that the suggested biosensor is able to determine amsacrine in human serum and urine samples successfully.