Nanozymes have received great attention owing to the advantages of easy preparation and low cost. Unlike natural enzymes that readily adapt to physiological environments, artificial nanozymes are apt to passivate in complex clinical samples (e.g., serum), which may damage the catalytic capability and consequently limit the application in biomedical analysis. To conquer this problem, in this study, we fabricated novel nanozyme@DNA hydrogel architecture by incorporating nanozymes into a pure DNA hydrogel. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were adopted as a model nanozyme. Results indicate that AuNPs incorporated in the DNA hydrogel retain their catalytic capability in serum as they are protected by the hydrogel, whereas AuNPs alone totally lose the catalytic capability in serum. The detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose in serum based on the catalysis of the AuNPs@DNA hydrogel was achieved. The detection limit of each reaches 1.7 and 38 μM, respectively, which is equal to the value obtained using natural enzymes. Besides the mechanisms, some other advantages, such as recyclability and availability, have also been explored. This nanozyme@DNA hydrogel architecture may have a great potential for the utilization of nanozymes as well as the application of nanozymes for biomedical analysis in complex physiological samples.

Pathological bio-mineralization can be induced by diseases such as preeclampsia. Inspired by these naturally occurring bio-mineralization processes, we have designed a process called protein-controlled peptide assembly tandem peptide-templated bio-mineralization. The technique provides bio-context-associated data on the activity of target proteins, and facilitates the evaluation of protein function in the associated biological microenvironment. It is a bio-mimetic process that leads to the formation of Ag nanoparticle-decorated peptide nanowires, which can offer efficient signal amplification with high sensitivity for biosensing applications. Consequently, high-temperature requirement factor A1 (HtrA1) can be assayed quantitatively in clinical serum samples to offer information for the diagnosis of preeclampsia and the improved treatment of the disease. The results suggest that the process has considerable potential for use in clinical practice.

Here we developed a saccharic colorimetric method based on the combination of chemoselective ligation and enzyme-specific catalysis using aminooxy/hydrazine-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AO/AuNPs or H/AuNPs). In the detection of galactose (Gal), galactohexodialdose (GHDA), the galactose oxidase (GalOx)-catalyzed product, has an aldehyde group, which allows it to chemoselectively react with an aminooxy or hydrazine group at the outer layer of AO/AuNPs or H/AuNPs by oxime/hydrazone click chemistry to form oxime or hydrozone. Consequently, through the specific recognition of 1, 4-phenylenediboronic acid (PDBA) on cis-diols, GHDA, which contains two pairs of hydroxyls in the cis form, can bind not only with AO/AuNPs or H/AuNPs, but also with PDBA to form boronate diester, thereby triggering the aggregation of AuNPs and causing the corresponding color change. As GalOx catalyzed specific substrates, the amount of Gal correlated with the production of GHDA and the extent of AuNPs aggregation, thus allowing a simple and easily operatable colorimetric method for Gal detection to be developed. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the ratios of absorbance at a wavelength of 617 nm to that at 536 nm vary linearly with the logarithmic values of Gal concentrations within a wide range of 500 nM to 5 mM. Moreover, this colorimetric method shows anti-interference capability and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 21 nM. Thus, a universal platform for accurate and specific colorimetric analysis can be established through the integration of chemoselective ligation with enzyme specific catalysis.

The safety of nucleic acid staining dyes has long been recognized to be a problem. Extensive efforts have been made to search for alternatives to the most popular but toxic staining dye, ethidium bromide (EtBr). However, so far no staining method that can be guaranteed to be sufficiently safe has been developed. In this paper, we report a green staining method of DNA in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, where in situ synthesis of DNA-templated fluorescent copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) in the gel is achieved to make the DNA bands visible under UV light. Moreover, a comprehensive study of the performance of this staining method has been conducted and the experimental results show that it has favorable sensitivity, stability, and usability. Meanwhile, in our animal experiments, the two reagents (copper sulfate and ascorbic acid) as well as the synthesized CuNCs have been proven to be non-toxic in contact with skin. In addition, all the reagents employed in this work are readily available and low cost, and the procedure is simple to carry out. Therefore, this novel staining method based on the in situ synthesis DNA-templated fluorescent CuNCs has many potential applications.

A colorimetric method has been established for α-glucosidase activity assay and its inhibitor screening. The method is based on the specific recognition between 1, 4-phenylenediboronic acid (PDBA) and 4-aminophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (pAPG), which may induce aggregation of pAPG-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to achieve color change of the test solution. Because pAPG is the substrate of α-glucosidase, the aggregation of AuNPs will be influenced by α-glucosidase since there is no coordination reactivity between PDBA and 4-aminobenzene, the hydrolyzed product of pAPG catalyzed by the enzyme. Therefore, a simple and easily-operated colorimetric method for the assay of α-glucosidase activity can be developed. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the ratios of absorbance at a wavelength of 650 nm to that at 520 nm vary linearly with the α-glucosidase activity within a range from 0.05 to 1.1 U/mL with a lowest detection limit of 0.004 U/mL. Moreover, using the proposed method, the inhibition effect of gallic acid and quercetin on α-glucosidase activity can be tested with IC₅₀ values of 1.16 mM and 1.82 μM, respectively. Thus, the method has a great potential not only for the detection of α-glucosidase activity, but also for the screening of its inhibitors.