Developing a Silk Fibroin Composite Film to Scavenge and Probe H2O2 Associated with UV-Excitable Blue Fluorescence

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 20; no. 2; p. 366
• Main Authors: Chung, Tze-Wen, Chang, Chun-Yi, Chang, Chun-Ning, Liao, Chiu-Hsun, Jan, Yun-Jen, Chen, Li-Ting, Chen, Weng-Pin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 08.01.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Biosensors; blue fluorescence; Cell growth; Dopamine; Enzymes; Fourier transforms; Graphene; graphene oxide; Graphite; h2o2 probe; h2o2 scavenge; Hydrogels; Laboratories; Nanoparticles; Polymerization; Scanning electron microscopy; silk fibroin; Software; United States > US; Japan
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s20020366

A silk fibroin composite film that can simultaneously scavenge and probe H2O2 in situ was developed for possibly examining local concentrations of H2O2 for biomedical applications. A multi-functional composite film (GDES) that consists of graphene oxide (G), a photothermally responsive element that was blended with polydopamine (PDA, D)/horseradish peroxidase (HRP, E) (or DE complex), and then GDE microaggregates were coated with silk fibroin (SF, S), a tyrosine-containing protein. At 37 °C, the H2O2-scavenging ability of a GDES film in solution at approximately 7.5 × 10−3 μmol H2O2/mg film was the highest compared with those of S and GS films. The intensities of UV-excitable blue fluorescence of a GDES film linearly increased with increasing H2O2 concentrations from 4.0 μM to 80 μM at 37 °C. Interestingly, after a GDES film scavenged H2O2, the UV-excitable blue fluorescent film could be qualitatively monitored by eye, making the film an eye-probe H2O2 sensor. A GDES film enabled to heat H2O2-containing samples to 37 °C or higher by the absorption of near-IR irradiation at 808 nm. The good biocompatibility of a GDES film was examined according to the requirements of ISO-10993-5. Accordingly, a GDES film was developed herein to scavenge and eye-probe H2O2 in situ and so it has potential for biomedical applications.