Magnetic electrochemical sensing platform for biomonitoring of exposure to organophosphorus pesticides and nerve agents based on simultaneous measurement of total enzyme amount and enzyme activity

Anal Chem. 2011 May 15;83(10):3770-7. doi: 10.1021/ac200217d. Epub 2011 Apr 21.

Abstract

We report a new approach for electrochemical quantification of enzymatic inhibition and phosphorylation for biomonitoring of exposure to organophosphorus (OP) pesticides and nerve agents based on a magnetic bead (MB) immunosensing platform. The principle of this approach is based on the combination of MB immunocapture-based enzyme activity assay and competitive immunoassay of the total amount of enzyme for simultaneous detection of enzyme inhibition and phosphorylation in biological fluids. Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) was chosen as a model enzyme. In competitive immunoassay, the target BChE in a sample competes with the BChE immobilized on the MBs to bind to the limited sites of anti-BChE antibody labeled with quantum dots (QD-anti-BChE), followed by stripping voltammetric analysis of the bound QD conjugate on the MBs. This assay shows a linear response over the total BChE concentration range of 0.1-20 nM. Simultaneous real time BChE activity was measured on an electrochemical carbon nanotube-based sensor coupled with a microflow injection system after immunocapture by the MB-anti-BChE conjugate. Therefore, the formed phosphorylated BChE adduct (OP-BChE) can be estimated by the difference values of the total amount of BChE (including active and OP-inhibited) and active BChE from established calibration curves. This approach not only eliminates the difficulty in screening of low-dose OP exposure (less than 20% inhibition of BChE) because of individual variation of BChE values but also avoids the drawback of the scarce availability of OP-BChE antibody. It is sensitive enough to detect 0.5 nM OP-BChE, which is less than 2% BChE inhibition. This method offers a new method for rapid, accurate, selective, and inexpensive quantification of OP-BChE and enzyme inhibition for biomonitoring of OP and nerve agent exposures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies / immunology
  • Butyrylcholinesterase / chemistry
  • Butyrylcholinesterase / metabolism*
  • Chemical Warfare Agents / analysis*
  • Chemical Warfare Agents / chemistry
  • Electrochemical Techniques / methods*
  • Immunoassay / methods
  • Magnetics
  • Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry
  • Organophosphorus Compounds / analysis*
  • Organophosphorus Compounds / chemistry
  • Pesticides / analysis*
  • Pesticides / chemistry
  • Phosphorylation
  • Quantum Dots

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Organophosphorus Compounds
  • Pesticides
  • Butyrylcholinesterase