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Poly(N-2-hydroxypropylmethacrylamide)-capped gold nanoparticles as nanozymes with peroxidase-mimicking performance for the colorimetric monitoring of serum homocysteine

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Abstract

Recently, nanozymes based on polymer-stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted more and more attention on account of their polymer-ligands’ multiple functionalization sites. However, the contribution of polymer hydrogen bonding to the catalytic activity of AuNPs has received little attention. This study designed and fabricated poly(N-2-hydroxypropylmethacrylamide)-capped AuNPs (PHPAM@AuNPs) using a hydroxyl-rich polymer as the ligand. The PHPAM@AuNPs exhibited good peroxidase-mimicking activity capable of efficiently oxidizing 3,3′5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) with H2O2. The effect of PHPAM hydrogen bonding on the catalytic activity of PHPAM@AuNPs was investigated. Under peroxidase-mimicking catalysis, homocysteine introduced a notable reduction in oxidation, allowing the creation of a colorimetric method for homocysteine detection with high selectivity and sensitivity. The ultraviolet–visible absorption intensity of oxidized TMB showed a strong linear relationship with homocysteine concentration in the range of 3.0–20.0 μM (R2 = 0.998), with a limit of detection of 0.4 μM. The proposed colorimetric protocol was used to monitor homocysteine in rat serum following intraperitoneal injection. This work provides a new way to refine AuNP-based nanozymes by relying on polymer-ligand hydrogen bonding. It has strong application potential in the analysis of endogenous molecules in real samples.

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Funding

This work received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21874138).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry & Environmental Science, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Cheng & Hongyi Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Bio-Systems, Institute of Chemistry, Beijing National Laboratory of Molecular Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Cheng, Juan Qiao, Zhenwen Zhao & Li Qi

  3. School of Chemical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Juan Qiao, Zhenwen Zhao & Li Qi

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  1. Cheng Cheng
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  2. Juan Qiao
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  3. Zhenwen Zhao
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  4. Hongyi Zhang
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  5. Li Qi
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Correspondence to Hongyi Zhang or Li Qi.

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Cheng, C., Qiao, J., Zhao, Z. et al. Poly(N-2-hydroxypropylmethacrylamide)-capped gold nanoparticles as nanozymes with peroxidase-mimicking performance for the colorimetric monitoring of serum homocysteine. Anal Bioanal Chem 415, 953–960 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04491-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04491-9

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