Direct heterogeneous electron transfer of theophylline oxidase

Direct electron transfer (DET) was shown between the heme containing enzyme theophylline oxidase (ThO) and the surface of both graphite and gold electrodes. As proof on graphite a steady state current for theophylline was recorded using the electrode modified with adsorbed ThO. The electrode showed a Michaelis-Menten-like response to theophylline with a detection limit of 0.2 mM and a Michaelis-Menten constant equal to 3.2 mM. These initial results open up a possibility for the development of reagentless third generation biosensor based on heterogeneous DET between ThO and an electrode. On gold DET between ThO and the surface of aldrithiol modified gold was studied with spectroelectrochemical measurements. DET was observed for soluble ThO as a change of its spectrum in a gold capillary responding to a change in the applied potential. It was shown that the redox conversion of the heme domain of the enzyme is directly (mediatorlessly) driven by the potential applied at the gold electrode. The measurements enabled an estimation of the formal potential (Edegrees') of the redox process equal to -275 +/- 150 mV versus Ag\AgClsat at pH 7.0. The experimentally determined number of the electrons involved in this heterogeneous electron transfer process was estimated to be equal to 0.53. The low precision in determination of the Edegrees' and the value of the number of electrons lower than one indicate that kinetic restrictions disturbed the evaluation of the true thermodynamic values from relatively fast spectroelectrochemical measurements. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.