DNA methylation catalyzed by methyltransferase (MTase) is a significant epigenetic process for modulating gene expression. Traditional methods to study MTase activity require a laborious and costly DNA labeling process. In this article, we report a simple, colorimetric, and label-free methylation-responsive DNAzyme (MR-DNAzyme) strategy for MTase activity analysis. This new strategy relies on horseradish peroxidase (HRP) mimicking DNAzyme and the methylation-responsive sequence (MRS) of DNA which can be methylated and cleaved by the MTase/endonuclease coupling reaction. Methylation-induced scission of MRS would activate the DNAzyme that can catalyze the generation of a color signal for the amplified detection of methylation events. Taking Dam MTase and DpnI endonuclease as examples, we have developed two colorimetric methods based on the MR-DNAzyme strategy. The first method is to utilize an engineered hairpin-DNAzyme hybrid probe for facile turn-on detection of Dam MTase activity, with a wide linear range (6-100 U/mL) and a low detection limit (6 U/mL). Furthermore, this method could be easily expanded to profile the activity and inhibition of restriction endonuclease. The second method involves a methylation-triggered DNAzyme-based DNA machine, which achieves the ultrahigh sensitive detection of Dam MTase activity (detection limit = 0.25 U/mL) by a two-step signal amplification cascade.

New polymer–enzyme–metallic nanoparticle composite films with a high‐load and a high‐activity of immobilized enzymes and obvious electrocatalysis/nano‐enhancement effects for biosensing of glucose and galactose are designed and prepared by a one‐pot chemical pre‐synthesis/electropolymerization (CPSE) protocol. Dopamine (DA) as a reductant and a monomer, glucose oxidase (GOx) or galactose oxidase (GaOx) as the enzyme, and HAuCl4 or H2PtCl6 as an oxidant to trigger DA polymerization and the source of metallic nanoparticles, are mixed to yield polymeric bionanocomposites (PBNCs), which are then anchored on the electrode by electropolymerization of the remaining DA monomer. The prepared PBNC material has good biocompatibility, a highly uniform dispersion of the nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution, and high load/activity of the immobilized enzymes, as verified by transmission/scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance. The thus‐prepared enzyme electrodes show a largely improved amperometric biosensing performance, e.g., a very high detection sensitivity (99 or 129 µA cm−2 mM−1 for glucose for Pt PBNCs on bare or platinized Au), a sub‐micromolar limit of detection for glucose, and an excellent durability, in comparison with those based on conventional procedures. Also, the PBNC‐based enzyme electrodes work well in the second‐generation biosensing mode. The proposed one‐pot CPSE protocol may be extended to the preparation of many other functionalized PBNCs for wide applications.

Herein, we present a novel label-free fluorescent assay for monitoring the activity and inhibition of protein kinases based on the aggregation behavior of unmodified CdTe quantum dots (QDs). In this assay, cationic substrate peptides induce the selective aggregation of unmodified QDs with anionic surface charge, whereas phosphorylated peptides do not. Phosphorylation by kinase alters the net charge of peptides and subsequently inhibits the aggregation of unmodified QDs, causing an enhanced fluorescence with a 45 nm blue-shift in emission and a yellow-to-green emission color change. Hence the fluorescence response allows this QD-based method to easily probe kinase activity by a spectrometer or even by the naked eye. The feasibility of the method has been demonstrated by sensitive measurement of the activity of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) with a low detection limit (0.47 mU μL(-1)). On the basis of the fluorescence response of QDs on the concentration of PKA inhibitor H-89, the IC(50) value, the half maximal inhibitory concentration, was estimated, which was in agreement with the literature value. Moreover, the system can be applicable to detect the Forskolin/3-isobutyl-1-methylxantine (IBMX)-stimulated activation of PKA in cell lysate. Unlike the existing QD-based enzyme activity assays in which the modification process of QDs is essential, this method relies on unmodified QDs without the requirement of peptide labeling and QDs' modification, presenting a promising candidate for cost-effective kinase activity and inhibitor screening assays.

The research on complicated kinomics and kinase-target drug discovery requires the development of simple, cost-effective, and multiplex kinase assays. Herein, we propose a novel and versatile biosensing platform for the detection of protein kinase activity based on graphene oxide (GO)-peptide nanocomplex and phosphorylation-induced suppression of carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) cleavage. Kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation protects the fluorophore-labeled peptide probe against CPY digestion and induces the formation of a GO/peptide nanocomplex resulting in fluorescence quenching, while the nonphosphopeptide is degraded by CPY to release free fluorophore as well as restore fluorescence. This GO-based nanosensor has been successfully applied to sensitively detect two model kinases, casein kinase (CKII) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) with low detection limits of 0.0833 mU/μL and 0.134 mU/μL, respectively. The feasibility of this GO-based sensor was further demonstrated by the assessment of kinase inhibition by staurosporine and H-89, in vitro kinase assay in cell lysates, and simultaneous detection of CKII and PKA activity. Moreover, the GO-based fluorescence anisotropy (FA) kinase assay has been also developed using GO as a FA signal amplifier. The proposed sensor is homogeneous, facile, universal, label-free, and applicable for multiplexed kinase assay, presenting a promising method for kinase-related biochemical fundamental research and inhibitor screening.

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a facile and feasible technique to prepare functional nanocomposite coatings for application in orthopedic-related implants. In this work, a ternary graphene oxide-chitosan-hydroxyapatite (GO-CS-HA) composite coating on Ti substrate was successfully fabricated by EPD. Coating microstructure and morphologies were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle test, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. It was found GO-CS surface were uniformly decorated by HA nanoparticles. The potentiodynamic polarization test in simulated body fluid indicated that the GO-CS-HA coatings could provide effective protection of Ti substrate from corrosion. This ternary composite coating also exhibited good biocompatibility during incubation with MG63 cells. In addition, the nanocomposite coatings could decrease the attachment of Staphylococcus aureus.

A novel label-free electrochemical strategy for monitoring the activity and inhibition of protein kinase is developed, based on the linkage between the phosphorylated peptide and DNA functionalized Au nanoparticles (DNA-AuNPs) by Zr(4+) and the chronocoulometric response of [Ru(NH(3))(6)](3+) absorbed on the DNA-AuNPs.

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A protocol of one-pot chemical preoxidation and electropolymerization of monomers (CPEM) in enzyme-containing aqueous suspensions (or solutions) was proposed as a universal strategy for high-activity and high-load immobilization of enzymes to construct amperometric biosensors, which was proven to be effective for the monomer of 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT), 1,6-hexanedithiol, o-phenylenediamine, o-aminophenol or pyrrole, the preoxidant of K3Fe(CN)6 or p-benzoquinone, and the enzyme of glucose oxidase (GOx) or alkaline phosphatase (AP) to develop GOx-based glucose biosensors or AP-based disodium phenyl phosphate biosensors. As a case examined in detail, a well-dispersed aqueous suspension of the poorly soluble BDT was obtained through its dispersion assisted by ultrasonication and coexisting GOx, which was then subject to chemical preoxidation through adding K3Fe(CN)6, yielding many composites of insoluble BDT oligomers with lots of high-activity enzyme molecules entrapped. Some insoluble composites were then electrochemically codeposited with poly(1,4-benzenedithiol) on an Au electrode, yielding an enzyme film with high-load and high-activity enzyme immobilized. The glucose biosensor prepared here from the CPEM protocol showed much better performance than that from the preoxidant-free conventional electropolymerization (CEP) protocol, with a detection sensitivity increase by a factor of 32 in this case. The GOx-based and AP-based first-generation biosensors developed from the present CPEM protocol all exhibited notably improved performance compared with the analogues from the preoxidant-free CEP protocol. The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) technique was used to investigate various electrode modification processes. The values of quantity and enzymatic specific activity (ESA) of the immobilized enzymes were evaluated through the EQCM and the conventional UV-vis spectrophotometric method, given that the CPEM protocol notably improved the quantity and the ESA of immobilized enzymes as compared with the preoxidant-free CEP protocol. The proposed CPEM protocol may be interesting in a number of fields, including biosensing, biocatalysis, biofuel cells, bioaffinity chromatography, and biomaterials, and the successful electropolymerization of dithiols in aqueous suspensions (two-phase electropolymerization) may open a new avenue for many monomers that are poorly soluble in neutral aqueous solutions to in situ immobilize biomolecules for bioapplications.