Mimicking biological process to detect alkaline phosphatase activity using the vitamin B6 cofactor conjugated bovine serum albumin capped CdS quantum dots

Abstract

This manuscript presents a novel bioanalytical approach for the selective ratiometric fluorescent sensing of enzymatic activity of the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the biological samples. The probe was designed by conjugating the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) over the surface of bovine serum albumin (BSA) stabilized CdS quantum dots (QDs) through the interaction of free amine present in BSA with the aldehyde group of PLP. The conjugation of PLP quenched the emission of QDs. Upon addition of the ALP, the emission of QDs was restored due to the dephosphorylation and the conversion of the functionalized PLP in to pyridoxal. With this probe, the ALP activity can be detected down to 0.05 U/L and also successfully applied for the detection of ALP activity in biological samples such as human serum and plasma.

Keywords: Alkaline phosphatase; Fluorescent sensor; Quantum dots; Vitamin B6 cofactors.