Biomineralization-inspired copper-cystine nanoleaves capable of laccase-like catalysis for the colorimetric detection of epinephrine

Abstract

Recently, many efforts have been dedicated to creating enzyme-mimicking catalysts to replace natural enzymes in practical fields. Inspired by the pathological biomineralization behaviour of L-cystine, in this study, we constructed a laccase-like catalyst through the co-assembly of L-cystine with Cu ions. Structural analysis revealed that the formed catalytic Cu-cystine nanoleaves (Cu-Cys NLs) possess a Cu(I)-Cu(II) electron transfer system similar to that in natural laccase. Reaction kinetic studies demonstrated that the catalyst follows the typical Michaelis-Menten model. Compared with natural laccase, the Cu-Cys NLs exhibit superior stability during long-term incubation under extreme pH, high-temperature or high-salt conditions. Remarkably, the Cu-Cys NLs could be easily recovered and still maintained 76% of their activity after 8 cycles. Finally, this laccase mimic was employed to develop a colorimetric method for epinephrine detection, which achieved a wider linear range (9–455 μmol·L⁻¹) and lower limit of detection (2.7 μmol·L⁻¹). The Cu-Cys NLs also displayed excellent specificity and sensitivity towards epinephrine in a test based on urine samples.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

biomineralization / laccase / L-cystine / colorimetric detection / enzyme mimic

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21621004 and 21676191).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-020-1940-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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2020 Higher Education Press