Colorimetric assay for S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase activity and inhibition using fluorosurfactant-capped gold nanoparticles

Anal Chem. 2010 Nov 1;82(21):8775-9. doi: 10.1021/ac102020n. Epub 2010 Oct 14.

Abstract

This study reports a simple colorimetric method for the sensitive detection of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) activity and inhibition using fluorosurfactant-capped gold nanoparticles (FSN-AuNPs). FSN stabilizes the AuNPs against conditions of high ionic strength, and FSN-AuNPs are merely aggregated in the presence of homocysteine (HCys) and cysteine. Because of this feature, FSN-AuNPs were found to be dispersed in the presence of S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) that lacks a free thiol group. After SAHH catalyzed the hydrolysis of SAH, the produced HCys molecules were bound to the surface of AuNPs through the formation of Au-S bonds. As a result, the nanoparticle (NP) aggregation occurred through electrostatic attraction between each HCys-attached AuNP. This approach had a minimum detectable concentration of 100 units/L (~6 nM). Additionally, because adenosine analogs are capable of inhibiting SAHH activity, the addition of adenosine analogs to a solution containing SAH and SAHH resulted in the suppression of hydrolyzed SAH-induced NP aggregation. Adenosine analogs exhibited the following trend in the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations: adenosine > adenosine monophosphate > adenosine diphosphate ~ adenosine triphosphate. We have demonstrated that the combination of SAHH inhibition and FSN-AuNPs can be utilized for the selective detection of adenosine.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenosine / analogs & derivatives
  • Adenosine / pharmacology
  • Adenosylhomocysteinase / analysis
  • Adenosylhomocysteinase / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Adenosylhomocysteinase / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods
  • Colorimetry / methods
  • Enzyme Assays / methods*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Halogenation
  • Limit of Detection
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Rabbits
  • S-Adenosylhomocysteine / metabolism*
  • Surface-Active Agents / chemistry

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Surface-Active Agents
  • Gold
  • S-Adenosylhomocysteine
  • Adenosylhomocysteinase
  • Adenosine