Design of a macroalgae amperometric biosensor; application to the rapid monitoring of organophosphate insecticides in an agroecosystem.

The immobilization of enzymes onto transducer support is a mature technology and has been successfully implemented to improve biocatalytic processes for diverse applications. However, there exists still need to design more sophisticated and specialized strategies to enhance the functional properties of the biosensors. In this work, a biosensor platform based on innovative fabrication strategy was designed, and employed for the detection of organophosphate (OP) in natural waters. The biosensor was prepared by incorporating acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) to the graphite paste modified with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) mediator, along with the use of a macroalgae (Cladaphropsis membranous) as a functional immobilization support. The novel immobilization design resulted in a synergic effect, and led to enhanced stability and sensitivity of the biosensor. The designed biosensor was used to analyze methyl parathion OP insecticide in water samples collected from a demonstrably contaminated lake of São Luis Island, Maranhão, Northeast of Brazil. Water analysis revealed that the aquatic ecosystem was polluted by sub-ppm concentrations of the OP insecticide, and a good correlation was found between values obtained through biosensor and GC-MS techniques. Our results demonstrated that macroalgae-biosensor could be used as a low-cost and sensitive screening method to detect target analyte.

Effects of diabetes on cardiac lysosomes and protein degradation.

Rates of proteolysis by hearts obtained from alloxan diabetic rats and perfused as working preparations with buffer simulating control sera were accelerated 30% above identically perfused control hearts. The total homogenate activities of cathepsin D and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, assayed in the presence of Triton X-100, decreased 15-35% in diabetic heart, but the activities of these lysosomal enzymes assayable in the absence of detergent were unchanged in the diabetic tissue. The effects of diabetes were examined further by centrifugation of particulate fractions from subtilisin-treated hearts of control and diabetic rats on polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated colloidal silica (Percoll) gradients. Two species of lysosomes were resolved on the basis of their densities. Both dense and buoyant lysosomes accumulated radioactivity when hearts were exposed to [14C]phenylalanine methyl ester. Dense lysosomes (1.06-1.09 g/ml) sedimented with mitochondria while buoyant lysosomes banded with Golgi and sarcolemmal particles (1.02-1.03 g/ml). When particulate fractions of hearts from diabetic animals were layered on the Percoll gradients, total activities of beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and cathepsin D were decreased from control in buoyant lysosomes, but unchanged in dense lysosomes. These results demonstrated that the increase in proteolysis in the diabetic heart was associated with decreased total activity and latency of cathepsin D and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and an increased proportion of dense lysosomes in the particulate fraction.