Visible-light-activated photoelectrochemical biosensor for the study of acetylcholinesterase inhibition induced by endogenous neurotoxins

In this report, a novel visible-light-activated photoelectrochemical biosensor was fabricated to study the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity induced by two endogenous neurotoxins, 1(R)-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline [(R)-Sal] and 1(R),2(N)-dimethyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydroisoquinoline [(R)-NMSal], which have drawn much attention in the study of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. The photoelectrode was prepared by three steps, as follows. At first, nitrogen and fluorine co-doped TiO₂ nanotubes (TNs) were obtained by anodic oxidation of a Ti sheet. Secondly, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were deposited onto the TNs through a microwave-assisted heating polyol (MAHP) process. At last, AChE was immobilized on the obtained photoelectrode and the biosensor was marked as AChE/Ag/N-F-TNs. Due to the nitrogen and fluorine co-doping, the photoelectrochemical biosensors can produce high photocurrent under visible light irradiation. Moreover, the presence of AgNPs greatly increased the photocurrent response of the biosensor. AChE/Ag/N-F-TNs hybrid system was used to study AChE inhibition induced by (R)-Sal and (R)-NMSal. The result proved that both (R)-Sal and (R)-NMSal exhibited mixed and reversible inhibition against AChE. This strategy is of great significance for the development of novel photoelectrochemical biosensors in the future.