ENZYMES IMMOBILIZED ON GOLD SURFACES

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NEW CLASS OF BIOSENSORS BASED ON THE USE OF COLLOIDAL GOLD DIRECTLY OR DEPOSITED AS A POROUS GOLD FILM. THE KEY TO THE APPROACH ISTHE IMMOBILIZATION OF ENZYMES ON GOLD SURFACES THAT PROVIDE FOR HIGHFLUX, HETEROGENEOUS ELECTRON TRANSFER. THE FEASIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING THIS NEW CLASS OF BIOSENSORS WILL BE EVALUATED BY THE END OF PHASE I. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE ARE: (1) TO IMMOBILIZE A TEST ENZYME ON COLLOIDALGOLD, (2) TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT, ACTIVITY AND STRENGTH OF ATTACHMENT OF THE IMMOBILIZED ENZYME AND, (3) TO MAKE GOLD ELECTRODES BASED ON (1) AND DETERMINE HETEROGENEOUS ELECTRONTRANSFER TO A REDOX CENTER ON THE IMMOBILIZED ENZYME. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FEASIBILITY RESEARCH WILL BEGIN IN PHASE II WHICH WILL INVOLVE THE CONSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPES FOR SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL BIOSENSORS BASED ON THE USE OF ENZYMES IMMOBILIZED ON COLLOIDAL GOLD SURFACES.