Nanozymes
have drawn much attention owing to their low cost and
high stability compared with natural enzymes. However, limited specificity
intrinsically presents a challenge to their efficiency in sensing
applications. Although specific biorecognition units and molecularly
imprinted polymers have been introduced to enhance the specificity
of nanozymes, they have some shortcomings like poor stability, high
cost, complicated operation, and weakened activity. To address these
issues, we developed here a simple and efficient surface engineering
strategy to build the target-responsive sensing interface by weaving
a molecular network on nanozymes to afford a pocket-like structure.
Glutathione (GSH), an important intracellular biothiol, was used as
the model target, considering the difficulty in distinguising GSH
from other biothiols, especially cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy).
With high-performance single-atom nanozyme (SAzyme) Fe–N–C
as the parent nanozyme, a meshy SAzyme Fe/PSAs-DTSSP containing GSH-cleavable
disulfide bonds was fabricated via facile surface modification. Interestingly,
the molecular network adhered onto the Fe–N–C surface
modulated the peroxidase-like properties, including substrate affinity
and catalytic stability under harsh conditions. Moreover, the molecular
network could specifically respond to GSH over Cys, Hcy, and other
interferents, which suppressed the oxidation of the chromogenic substrate
3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) due to the reversion
of the surface charge property of Fe/PSAs-DTSSP, resulting in a sensitive
response identified by the naked eye. The usefulness of this assay
was validated by monitoring the fluctuation of the GSH level in cancer
cells treated with glucose deprivation or incubated with doxorubicin,
showing good accuracy and reliability.