Jong Il Rhee

Use of CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots as energy transfer donors in sensing glucose

In the present work, CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots were synthesized and conjugated with enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOD) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The complex of enzyme-conjugated QDs was used as QD-FRET-based probes to sense glucose. The QDs were used as an electron donor, whereas GOD and HRP were used as acceptors for the oxidation/reduction reactions involved in oxidizing glucose to gluconic acid. Electron transfer between the redox enzymes and the electrochemical reduction of H(2)O(2) (or O(2)) occurred rapidly, resulting in an increase of the turnover rate of the electron exchange between the substrates (e.g. glucose, H(2)O(2) and O(2)) and the enzymes (GOD, HRP), as well as between the QDs and the enzymes. The transfer of non-radiative energy from the QDs to the enzymes resulted in the fluorescence quenching of the QDs, corresponding to the increase in the concentration of glucose. The linear detection ranges of glucose concentrations were 0-5.0g/l (R=0.992) for the volume ratios of 10/5/5, 0.2-5.0g/l (R=0.985) for the volume ratios of 10/5/3 and 1.0-5.0g/l (R=0.982) for the volume ratios of 10/5/0. Temperature (29-37 degrees C), pH (6-10) and some ions (NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), Na(+), Cl(-)) had no interference effect on the glucose measurement.

Preparation and characterization of sensing membranes for the detection of glucose, lactate and tyramine in microtiter plates

In this work, sensing membranes for the detection of glucose, lactate and tyramine were successfully prepared by immobilizing enzymes and fluorophore on sol-gels. The membranes were fabricated on the bottom of the wells in a microtiter plate. Glucose oxidase (GOD), lactate oxidase (LOD) and tyramine oxidase (TOD) were immobilized on individual sol-gels or a mixture of different sol-gels (3-glycidoxypropyl-trimethoxysilane (GPTMS), methyl-triethoxysilane (MTES), aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane (APTMS)). The oxidation of the analytes specifically catalyzed by the enzymes resulted in the reduction of the oxygen concentration, which changed the fluorescence intensity (FI) of the oxygen sensitive ruthenium complex acting as the transducer. The linear calibration graphs were in the ranges of 0.0-5.0g/l for glucose, 0.0-9.0mg/l for lactate and 0.0-100mg/l for tyramine. The values of the detection limit were found to be 0.10-0.52g/l for glucose, 7.77mg/l for lactate and 6.30-8.73mg/l for tyramine. The covalent binding between the epoxy and amine groups of the sol-gels and enzymes, respectively, prevented the enzymes from being washed out and preserved the high stability of the sensing membranes. The different ratios of silanes in the sol-gels, which were used as the supporting matrix for the immobilization of the enzymes led to different responses of the sensing membranes to various concentrations of glucose, lactate and tyramine. The kinetic parameters of the enzymatic reactions, and the stability and other parameters for the sensing membranes were also investigated.

Use of CdSe/ZnS luminescent quantum dots incorporated within sol-gel matrix for urea detection.

In this work, urea detection techniques based on the pH sensitivity of CdSe/ZnS QDs were developed using three types of sol-gel membranes: a QD-entrapped membrane, urease-immobilized membrane and double layer consisting of a QD-entrapped membrane and urease-immobilized membrane. The surface morphology of the sol-gel membranes deposited on the wells in a 24-well microtiter plate was investigated. The linear detection range of urea was in the range of 0-10mM with the three types of sol-gel membranes. The urea detection technique based on the double layer consisting of the QD-entrapped membrane and urease-immobilized membrane resulted in the highest sensitivity to urea due to the Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters. That is, the Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)=2.0745mM) of the free urease in the QD-entrapped membrane was about 4-fold higher than that (K(m)=0.549mM) of the immobilized urease in the urease-immobilized membrane and about 12-fold higher than that (K(m)=0.1698mM) of the immobilized urease in the double layer. The good stability of the three sol-gel membranes for urea sensing over 2 months showed that the use of sol-gel membranes immobilized with QDs or an enzyme is suitable for biomedical and environmental applications.

Sequential injection analysis system for on-line monitoring of l-cysteine concentration in biological processes

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system was developed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine in biological processes on-line. It is based on the redox reaction of l-cysteine with iron(III) in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and the detection of the red-iron(II)-phen complex with a spectrophotometry. The system was fully automated using software written in the LabVIEWtrade mark development environment. A number of system variables such as the flow rate of the carrier buffer solution, the volume ratio of the sample to the reagents, and the reaction coil length, etc., were evaluated to increase the sensitivity and performance of the SIA system. Under partially optimized operating conditions the performance of the SIA system was linear up to a concentration of l-cysteine of 1mM (R(2)=0.998) with a detection limit of 0.005mM and a sample frequency of 15hr(-1). The SIA system was employed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine on-line in a continuously stirred reactor and a fermentation process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The on-line monitored data were in good agreement with the off-line data measured by a HPLC with a fluorescence detector (n=15, R(2)=09899).

Application of principal component analysis and self-organizing map to the analysis of 2D fluorescence spectra and the monitoring of fermentation processes

Abstract2D fluorescence sensors produce a great deal of spectral data during fermentation processes, which can be analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques. Principal component analysis (PCA) and a self-organizing map (SOM) were used to analyze these 2D fluorescence spectra and to extract useful information from them. PCA resulted in scores and loadings that were visualized in the score-loading plots and used to monitor various fermentation processes with recombinantEscherichia coli andSaccharomyces cerevisiae. The SOM was found to be a useful and interpretative method of classifying the entire gamut of 2D fluorescence spectra and of selecting some significant combinations of excitation and emission wavelengths. The results, including the normalized weights and variances, indicated that the SOM network is capable of being used to interpret the fermentation processes monitored by a 2D fluorescence sensor.

Encapsulation of tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium(II) complex linked with dendrons in sol–gels: Stable optical sensing membranes for dissolved oxygen

To circumvent the leaching problem of optical sensing membranes used for dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements, the encapsulation of Ru(II) complexes linked with bulky dendron(s) in a sol-gel matrix was investigated. A dendron, readily formed via chemical transformations such as amidation and catalytic reduction, was covalently incorporated into tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium(II) complex, leading to an increase in the size and lipophilicity of dye molecules. Sol-gel-based sensing membranes encapsulating these Ru(II) complexes displayed a strong luminescence emission at 590 nm induced by radiation at 480 nm, and showed excellent DO sensing properties and stability for repeated measurements in aqueous solution. The encapsulation of the dendron-incorporated Ru(II) complexes in sol-gels prevented the dyes from leaching out of the membranes.

Development of a ratiometric fluorescent urea biosensor based on the urease immobilized onto the oxazine 170 perchlorate-ethyl cellulose membrane.

In this work, the oxazine 170 perchlorate (O17)-ethyl cellulose (EC) membrane was successfully applied in the fabrication of a urea-sensing membrane. The urea-sensing membrane was a double layer consisting of the O17-EC membrane and a layer of the enzyme urease entrapped into EC matrix. The sensing principle of urea was based on the hydrolysis reaction of urea under the catalysis of the urease to produce ammonia in water and also on the binding of ammonia with the dye O17 to create the shift in the emission wavelength from λ(em)=630 nm to λ(em)=565 nm. The data collected from the ratio of the fluorescence intensities at λ(em)=630 nm and λ(em)=565 nm was proportional to urea concentration. The urea-sensing membrane with the ratiometric method was used to measure the concentrations of urea in the range of 0.01-0.1 M with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.027 mM and 0.1-1.0 M with LOD of 0.224 mM. It showed fast response time, high reversibility and long-term stability in this concentration range. The recovery percentage of urea concentrations of the urea-sensing membrane for two kinds of biological urine solutions (BU1, BU2) was around 85-118%. The measured results were in good agreement with standard urea concentrations in the range of 0.06 M to 1.0 M.

Simple and sensitive progesterone detection in human serum using a CdSe/ZnS quantum dot-based direct binding assay

In this study, we developed a CdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD)-based immunoassay for use in determining the presence of progesterone (P4) in human serum. Hydrophilic QDs were conjugated to anti-progesterone antibody (P4Ab) via ethyl-3-(dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as coupling reagents. After purification, the P4Ab-QD conjugates were immobilized onto the wells of a 96-well microtiter plate, and a direct-binding immunoassay based on the binding of P4 to immobilized P4Ab-QD conjugates had a detection limit of 0.21 ng/ml and a sensitivity of 1.37 ng/ml, with a linear range of 0.385 to 4.55 ng/ml. The proposed immunoassay was successfully used to determine the P4 concentration in real human serum, and the results showed a good correlation with the accredited radioimmunoassay (RIA).

Generation of reactive oxygen species from 5-aminolevulinic acid and Glutamate in cooperation with excited CdSe/ZnS QDs

CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) can be joined in the reductive pathway involving the electron transfer to an acceptor or in the oxidative pathway involving the hole transfer to a donor. They were exploited in the oxidation reactions of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and glutamate (GLU) for the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radical (HO●) and superoxide anion (O2 ● ─). Fast and highly efficient oxidation reactions of ALA to produce HO● and of GLU to produce O2 ●─ were observed in the cooperation of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped CdSe/ZnS QDs under LED irradiation. Fluorescence spectroscopy and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy were used to evaluate the generation of different forms of ROS. Confocal fluorescent microscopic images of the size and morphology of HeLa cells confirmed the ROS generation from ALA or GLU in cooperation with CdSe/ZnS QDs under LED irradiation.

Sequential injection immunoassay for human bone morphogenic protein-7 using an immunoreactor immobilized with anti-human bone morphogenic protein-7 antibody–CdSe/ZnS quantum dot conjugates

The detection of human bone morphogenic protein-7 (BMP-7) was achieved using a sequential injection immunoassay (SIIA) system. The SIIA system is based on the binding between BMP-7 and anti-human BMP-7 (AbBMP7)-CdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD) conjugates immobilized onto a glass disk or an optical fiber, using fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 470 nm and 580 nm, respectively. The AbBMP7-QD conjugates were prepared by conjugating anti-human BMP-7 antibody (AbBMP7) to hydrophilic CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs). The SIIA system was fully automated using software written in the LabVIEW™ development environment. The analytical performance of the SIIA system was characterized with a number of variables such as carrier flow rate and elution buffer. Under partially optimized operating conditions, the SIIA system had a linear calibration graph at up to 10.0 ng mL(-1) BMP-7 (R(2)≥0.975) and a sample frequency of two samples per hour. The SIIA system with an optical fiber immunosensor was used to detect and quantify BMP-7 in spiked real samples obtained from a biological process with recoveries in the range of 95-102%.