Direct bioelectrocatalysis at the interfaces by genetically engineered dehydrogenase

There is an emerging interest in developing bio-functionalisation routes serving as platforms for assembling diverse enzymes onto material surfaces. Specifically, the fabrication of next-generation, laboratory-on-a-chip-based sensing and energy-harvesting systems requires controlled orientation and organisation of the proteins at the inorganic interfaces. Herein, the authors take the initial steps towards designing multifunctional, enzyme-based platforms by genetically integrating the engineered material-selective peptide tags for tethering redox enzymes onto electrode surfaces. The authors engineered a fusion protein that genetically conjugates gold-binding peptide to formate dehydrogenase derived from Candida methylica. The expressed proteins were tested for both enzyme activity and self-directed gold-surface functionalisation ability. Their findings demonstrate the successful self-immobilisation of the engineered enzyme onto different gold electrodes while retaining the catalytic activity. Building on the functionalisation by the peptides, a fusion enzyme-integrated circuit-based biosensor system was designed. The catalytic conversion of the formate by the engineered dehydrogenase was successfully monitored on the electrode surface at subsequent intervals. The engineered peptide-mediated self-integrated electrode systems can be extended to develop a wide range of biosensing and energy-harvesting platforms using different combinations of materials and biomolecules. This paper contains supporting information that will be made available online once the issue is published. In the meantime, if you wish to get a copy of the supplementary file, please contact the Journals Editor, Sarah Brown, at [email protected].