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Simultaneous electrochemical determination of DNA nucleobases using AgNPs embedded covalent organic framework

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Abstract

An efficient electrochemical biosensor has been developed for the simultaneous evaluation of DNA bases using AgNPs-embedded covalent organic framework (COF). The COF (p-Phenylenediamine and terephthalaldehyde) was synthesized by reflux (DMF; 150 °C; 12 h) and the nanoparticles were embedded from the aqueous solutions of AgNO3 and NaBH4. The nanocomposite-modified COF was confirmed by spectral, microscopic, and electrochemical techniques. The nanocomposite material was deposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and the redox behavior of AgNPs was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. The electrocatalytic activities of DNA bases were analyzed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in a physiological environment (PBS; pH = 7.0) based on simple and easy-to-use electrocatalyst. The AgNPs-COF/GCE showed well-defined anodic peak currents for the bases guanine (+ 0.63 V vs. Ag/AgCl), adenine (+ 0.89 V vs. Ag/AgCl), thymine (+ 1.10 V vs. Ag/AgCl), and cytosine (+ 1.26 V vs. Ag/AgCl) in a mixture as well as individuals with respect to the conventional, COF, and AgNPs/GCEs. The AgNPs-COF/GCE showed linear concentration range of DNA bases from 0.2–1000 µM (guanine; (G)), 0.1–500 µM (adenine (A)), 0.25–250 µM (thymine (T)) and 0.15–500 µM (cytosine (C)) and LOD of 0.043, 0.056, 0.062, and 0.051 µM (S/N = 3), respectively. The developed sensor showed reasonable selectivity, reproducibility (RSD = 1.53 ± 0.04%–2.58 ± 0.02% (n = 3)), and stability (RSD = 1.22 ± 0.06%–2.15 ± 0.04%; n = 3) over 5 days of storage) for DNA bases. Finally, AgNPs-COF/GCE was used for the determination of DNA bases in human blood serum, urine and saliva samples with good recoveries (98.60–99.11%, 97.80–99.21%, and 98.69–99.74%, respectively).

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Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST-107–2113-M-027–006 and MOST-108–2113-M-027–001). P. Arul would like to express gratitude to the National Taipei University of Technology for the Post-doctoral fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemical and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    P. Arul & Sheng-Tung Huang

  2. School of Engineering, Monash University, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia

    N. S. K. Gowthaman

  3. School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, People’s Republic of China

    Sekar Shankar

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  1. P. Arul
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  2. Sheng-Tung Huang
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Correspondence to P. Arul.

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Arul, P., Huang, ST., Gowthaman, N.S.K. et al. Simultaneous electrochemical determination of DNA nucleobases using AgNPs embedded covalent organic framework. Microchim Acta 188, 358 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-021-05021-7

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