Impedimetric Bacterial Detection Using Random Antimicrobial Peptide Mixtures

Tal Stern Bauer; Ravit Yakobi; Mattan Hurevich; Shlomo Yitzchaik; Zvi Hayouka

doi:10.3390/s23020561

Impedimetric Bacterial Detection Using Random Antimicrobial Peptide Mixtures

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Jan 4;23(2):561. doi: 10.3390/s23020561.

Authors

Tal Stern Bauer^{1

2}, Ravit Yakobi², Mattan Hurevich², Shlomo Yitzchaik², Zvi Hayouka¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
² Institute of Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.

Abstract

The biosensing of bacterial pathogens is of a high priority. Electrochemical biosensors are an important future tool for rapid bacteria detection. A monolayer of bacterial-binding peptides can serve as a recognition layer in such detection devices. Here, we explore the potential of random peptide mixtures (RPMs) composed of phenylalanine and lysine in random sequences and of controlled length, to form a monolayer that can be utilized for sensing. RPMs were found to assemble in a thin and diluted layer that attracts various bacteria. Faradaic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used with modified gold electrodes to measure the charge-transfer resistance (R_CT) caused due to the binding of bacteria to RPMs. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found to cause the most prominent increase in R_CT compared to other model bacteria. We show that the combination of highly accessible antimicrobial RPMs and electrochemical analysis can be used to generate a new promising line of bacterial biosensors.

Keywords: antimicrobial peptides; bacteria; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; random peptide mixtures; self-assembly monolayer.

MeSH terms

Antimicrobial Peptides*
Bacteria* / isolation & purification
Biosensing Techniques* / methods
Dielectric Spectroscopy / methods
Electrodes
Gold / chemistry
Peptides / chemistry

Substances

Antimicrobial Peptides
Gold
Peptides

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Chief Scientist of the Israel Ministry of Agriculture (grant number 12-23-0001) and by the Racah Nano Venture Fund from the Yissum Research Development Company. T.S.B. was supported by a Ph.D. student scholarship from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Israel. The graphical abstract and Figure 2 were created using BioRender.com.