Dynamic simulation and experimental studies of molecularly imprinted label-free sensor for determination of milk quality marker

Abstract

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) has emerged as a biomarker for mammary gland health and cow quality, being recognized as a significant allergenic protein. In this study, a novel flexible molecular imprinted electrochemical sensor by surface electropolymerization using pyrrole (Py) as functional monomer, which can be better applied to the detection of milk quality marker BSA. Based on computational results, with regard to all polypyrrole (PPy) conformations and amino-acid positions within the protein, the BSA molecule remained firmly embedded into PPy polymers with no biological changes. The molecular imprinted electrochemical sensor displayed a broad linear detection range from 1.0 × 10^-4 to 50 ng·mL^-1 (R² = 0.995) with a low detection limit (LOD) of 4.5 × 10^-2 pg·mL^-1. Additionally, the sensor was highly selective, reproducible, stable and recoverable, suggesting that it might be utilized for the evaluation of milk quality.

Keywords: Electrochemical sensor; Milk quality marker; Molecular dynamic computations; Molecularly imprinted polymer; Protein.