Comprehensive Study of the Effects of Nanopore Structures on Enzyme Activity for the Enzyme Based Electrochemical Biosensors Based on Molecular Simulation

Abstract

Assembly of biocompatible nanostructures to retain the enzyme activity and improve the biocatalytic ability is a decisive factor for enhancing the performance of enzyme biosensors. However, there is still a lack of molecular level understandings of the physicochemical interaction mechanism at the interface of biosensor electrodes and enzymes. Here, for the first time at molecular level, the effects of two classic biosensor electrode materials with different electrical properties and morphologies and glucose oxidase (GOD) on retaining the enzyme conformation were analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation. First, for the immobilization of GOD, the interfaces of zinc oxide (ZnO) with different electrical properties and 10 nm diameter ZnO nanopore were studied. Then, to simulate the sensing process when electric voltages are applied, positively charged gold planes and 10 nm diameter gold nanopore were investigated as well. The results showed that the nanopore structure was confirmed to be well adapted for the enzyme conformation retaining compared to the plane structure for both ZnO and gold materials, and they almost fit well with the sensitivity measurement results from many previously reported experimental studies. This study also indicates that molecular modeling of the interactions between biomolecules and functional nanostructures is helpful for developing high performance enzyme nanobiosensors.

Engineering carbon nanomaterials toward high-efficiency bioelectrocatalysis for enzymatic biofuel cells: a review

“…57,58 Of note, the pore structure is also pivotal to the bioelectrocatalytic activities of enzymes. 59 Liang et al 60 delicately tailored the porosity of bacterial cellulose porous carbon nanofibers (BPCNFs) via adjusting the thermal carbonization temperature and investigated the effects of pore structure on the enzyme DET process (Fig. 2H and I).…”

Co(OH)2 nanosheets decorated Cu(OH)2 nanorods for highly sensitive nonenzymatic detection of glucose

“…Glucose enzyme sensors were firstly proposed by Clark et al in 1962 and have been extensively investigated since then [3]. Enzyme glucose sensor benefit from the advantages of fast response and high selectivity, however, they suffer from complicated fabrication procedures and are highly susceptible to environmental influences such as pH, temperature and so on due to the enzymes in the glucose sensor.…”

Carbon nanomaterials and their application to electrochemical sensors: a review

“…CNT based transducers have been shown to amplify bio-catalytic reactions and provide a platform for multiple enzyme tags. When aligned as "forests", CNTs often act similarly to molecular wires, providing enhanced electron transfer between the underlying electrode and the enzymes redox centre [58][59][60][61][62]. The unique properties of CNTs have resulted in their exploitation in a range/multitude of diverse fields including sensors [40,63,64], actuators [40,65] and energy storage [66,67].…”