Self-powered logically operated fluorescent detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV)

In this study, a novel sensing strategy based on double sensing/actuating pathway is demonstrated, being capable to trigger the DNA-based AND gate for the sensitive and selective detection of hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA). Such an approach encompasses an enzymatic machinery logically operated using the variation of physiologically relevant biomarkers for liver dysfunctions. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are used as inputs of an AND gate generating an output signal, namely lactate. In particular, lactate is oxidized back to pyruvate at the anodic electrode by lactate oxidase connected in mediated electron transfer through ferrocene moieties (creating an amplifying recycling mechanism). The anodic electrode is further connected with a Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase (MvBOx) based biocathode modified with SiO2 nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) functionalized with phenyl boronic acid and trigonelline, triggering the release of quenching DNA (qDNA) upon local pH change at the electrode surface (notably, modified SiONPs gets negatively recharged upon local pH gradient releasing negatively charged DNA). Next, the released qDNA labeled with BHQ2 and detecting DNA (dDNA, labeled with FAM) are detecting HBV-DNA. The proposed biosensor can discriminate between the absence and presence of HBV-DNA setting the threshold at 0.05 fM in model buffer solutions and 1 fM in human serum. This enzymatic/DNA logic network can be of particular interest for future biomedical applications (e.g., early detection of liver cancer disease etc.). In the future development this technology could be easily integrated with a smartphone camera, allowing more user-friendly applications.