An electrochemical biosensor for the detection of tyrosine oxidation induced by Fenton reaction

A simple and sensitive electrochemical biosensor was used to detect tyrosine oxidation induced by hydroxyl radicals generated by Fenton reaction (Fe2+/H2O2). Poly(glu, tyr) (4:1) peptides were immobilized on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode surface via layer-by-layer assembly technique, and Os(bpy)32+-mediated tyrosine oxidation current was employed as the signal reporter of the biosensor. It was found that the electrochemical signal of the peptide decreased markedly after incubation with Fenton reagents. Interestingly, l-dopa, the oxidation product of tyrosine, was likely to form complexes with Fe(III), which could suppress the electro-oxidation of l-dopa and resulted in decrease of current response. Our results indicate that the peptide damage involved two steps and was a second-order reaction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to quantitatively determine nitrogen elemental percentage on peptide-coated electrode surface, which eliminated the possibility that signal decrease was caused by peptide backbone cleavage. Moreover, the lowest concentration of Fenton reagents that could be detected was 10 μM Fe2+ or H2O2, similar to the level in vivo. We suggest that the biosensor can be used to detect protein damage induced by Fenton reaction.