Interactions of Catalytic Enzymes with n-Type Polymers for High-Performance Metabolite Sensors
byDavid
Ohayon, Dominik
Renn, Shofarul
Wustoni, Keying
Guo, Victor
Druet, Adel
Hama, Bob
C. Schroeder, Magnus
Rueping, Iain
McCulloch, Sahika
Inal
Year:2022
Abstract
The tight regulation of the glucose
concentration in the body is crucial for balanced physiological function. We
developed an electrochemical transistor comprising an n-type conjugated polymer
film in contact with a catalytic enzyme for sensitive and selective glucose
detection in bodily fluids. Despite the promise of these sensors, the property
of the polymer that led to such high performance has remained unknown, with
charge transport being the only characteristic under focus. Here, we studied
the impact of the polymer chemical structure on film surface properties and
enzyme adsorption behavior using a combination of physiochemical
characterization methods and correlated our findings with the resulting sensor
performance. We developed five n-type polymers bearing the same backbone with
side chains differing in polarity and charge. We found that the nature of the
side chains modulated the film surface properties, dictating the extent of
interactions between the enzyme and the polymer film. Quartz crystal microbalance
with dissipation monitoring studies showed that hydrophobic surfaces retained
more enzymes in a densely packed arrangement, while hydrophilic surfaces
captured fewer enzymes in a flattened conformation. X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy analysis of the surfaces revealed strong interactions of the
enzyme with the glycolated side chains of the polymers, which improved for
linear side chains compared to those for branched ones. We probed the
alterations in the enzyme structure upon adsorption using circular dichroism,
which suggested protein denaturation on hydrophobic surfaces. Our study
concludes that a negatively charged, smooth, and hydrophilic film surface
provides the best environment for enzyme adsorption with desired mass and
conformation, maximizing the sensor performance. This knowledge will guide
synthetic work aiming to establish close interactions between proteins and
electronic materials, which is crucial for developing high-performance
enzymatic metabolite biosensors and biocatalytic charge-conversion devices.