A zinc selective oxytocin based biosensor

J Mater Chem B. 2020 Jan 7;8(1):155-160. doi: 10.1039/c9tb01932d. Epub 2019 Nov 29.

Abstract

Oxytocin is a peptide hormone with high affinity to both Zn2+ and Cu2+ ions compared to other metal ions. This affinity makes oxytocin an attractive recognition layer for monitoring the levels of these essential ions in biofluids. Native oxytocin cannot differentiate between Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions and hence it is not useful for sensing Zn2+ in the presence of Cu2+. We elucidated the effect of the terminal amine group of oxytocin on the affinity toward Cu2+ using theoretical calculations. We designed a new Zn2+ selective oxytocin-based biosensor that utilizes the terminal amine for surface anchoring, also preventing the response to Cu2+. The biosensor shows exceptional selectivity and very high sensitivity to Zn2+ in impedimetric biosensing. This study shows for the first time an oxytocin derived sensor that can be used directly for sensing Zn2+ in the presence of Cu2+.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques*
  • Gold / chemistry
  • Oxytocin / analysis*
  • Protein Binding
  • Thioctic Acid / chemistry
  • Zinc / metabolism*

Substances

  • Oxytocin
  • Thioctic Acid
  • Gold
  • Zinc