Analytica Chimica Acta最新文献

{"title":"Development of 3D printed microchips with encapsulated channels as miniaturized separation devices for bioanalysis","authors":"Christopher T. Desire ,&nbsp;R. Dario Arrua ,&nbsp;Billy Michalatos ,&nbsp;Jing Zhang ,&nbsp;Xanthe L. Venn ,&nbsp;Michael Breadmore ,&nbsp;Zlatko Kopecki ,&nbsp;Neil McMillan ,&nbsp;Robert Fitridge ,&nbsp;Emily F. Hilder ,&nbsp;Allison J. Cowin","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344971","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344971","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>3D printing has emerged as an attractive alternative for the fabrication of microfluidic devices offering the ability for rapid prototyping and a high degree of customization, in contrast to conventional microfabrication techniques. Despite its potential, the size of internal features (such as microfluidic channels) has been limited to larger cross-sectional areas and shorter lengths. Advances in 3D printing technology and the development of custom resins have allowed for smaller features to be obtained, moving the field closer to genuine microfluidic devices. However, not all researchers can readily perform the customization or resin development required.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In this work, we obtained channels with smaller cross-sections (∼100–200 μm) and longer channel lengths (up to 96 mm) using a commercial printer and resin, by optimizing several printing parameters as well as aspects of the microfluidic design. A chip array and custom 3D printed manifold was used to develop a workflow for high throughput post-processing, enabling facile removal of uncured resin from enclosed channels. Using a rectangular channel geometry, a layer height of 50 μm, and a single layer cover, channels with specified dimensions of 150 × 150 μm and 6 mm total length were obtained with a high success rate (&gt;98 %). Channels up to 96 mm could be printed using dimensions of 200 × 200 μm. The potential for these microchips for the pre-concentration and separation of proteins was also demonstrated, by fabricating polyacrylamide separation gels within the channels.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>This work presents an alternative workflow for fabrication of enclosed channels that does not rely on the use of custom printers or resins. Implementation of this workflow with pre-existing 3D printing technology is expected to allow future research progress facilitating smaller channel dimensions of longer lengths more readily. If coupled with emerging 3D printing technology, this could open the door for the development of truly microfluidic devices for bioanalysis and point-of-care devices in healthcare settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344971"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145657597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biopolymer-based ultrasound extraction of parabens: Functionalized polyvinylpyrrolidone –alginate beads with a natural eutectic solvent","authors":"J. Mabel Luna-Díaz ,&nbsp;Luz O. Leal-Quezada ,&nbsp;Laura Ferrer ,&nbsp;Edwin Palacio","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344978","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344978","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Parabens, widely used as preservatives in pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are considered emerging contaminants due to their endocrine-disrupting properties and frequent detection in aquatic environments. Their trace-level concentrations (μg L⁻¹ to ng L⁻¹) and moderate polarity pose significant challenges for effective monitoring using conventional preconcentration techniques. To address these limitations, a green ultrasound-assisted extraction method was developed employing polyvinylpyrrolidone–alginate beads functionalized with a hydrophobic natural eutectic solvent composed of menthol and camphor (2:1 M ratio). The sorbent facilitates selective interaction with parabens through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic effects, significantly improving extraction efficiency over non-functionalized materials. The method utilises only 125 mg of biodegradable sorbent and 3 % ammonia in water as desorption solvent, per analysis, minimising the use of hazardous reagent and aligning with Green Analytical Chemistry principles. Under optimised conditions, four parabens i.e., methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben, were simultaneously extracted and analysed by UHPLC-DAD, achieving enrichment factors ranged from 8 to 13.9, with limits of detection and quantification between 0.056 and 0.222 μg L⁻¹ and 0.186–0.744 μg L⁻¹, respectively. Precision (RSD) remained below 10 % for both intra- and inter-day analyses, with excellent linearity (R² ≥ 0.9943) across a working range of 5–10,000 μg L⁻¹. The method was successfully applied to wastewater samples from various treatment stages, achieving recoveries between 81 and 114 %, confirming its suitability for routine environmental monitoring of parabens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344978"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145651445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bisulfite-triggered AIEgens release from metal–organic cages for bioimaging","authors":"Zhihui Zhong ,&nbsp;Qinglei Cui ,&nbsp;Tangsheng Guan ,&nbsp;Hongyu Wen ,&nbsp;Yu-xin Chen ,&nbsp;Yu-Xin Ye ,&nbsp;Jianqiao Xu ,&nbsp;Gangfeng Ouyang","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344966","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344966","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) exhibit efficient fluorescence in the aggregated state, making them promising candidates for bioimaging applications. However, their inherently hydrophobic structures often lead to uncontrollable aggregation, hindering their delivery to target sites for imaging. Researchers have developed strategies to enhance the water solubility of AIEgens through either structural modification or carrier-based encapsulation. However structural modification methods involve complicated synthesis and macrocycles often show low encapsulation efficiency toward AIEgens. Improving the water solubility of AIEgens for bioimaging requires simple yet effective strategies.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>We report a novel supramolecular encapsulation approach utilizing water-soluble metal–organic cages (MOCs) as host carriers for AIEgens. Encapsulation significantly prevented the aggregation of AIEgens, enabling their uniform dispersion in aqueous matrices. The AIEgens@MOC complex exhibited excellent structural stability across broad ranges of pH (5.0–9.0), temperature (10°C–80 °C), and time (over 14 days) prior to bisulfite (HSO₃⁻) stimulation, confirming the stable host–guest interaction. Upon stimulation with HSO₃⁻, the disassembly of MOC led to the release of AIEgens, which subsequently aggregated and exhibited significantly enhanced fluorescence within 60 s. The new AIEgens@MOC complex enabled the succeeded visualization of abnormal intracellular HSO₃⁻ fluctuations (<strong>&gt;</strong>20 μM). Moreover, the low cytotoxicity of AIEgens@MOC facilitated its application as an intracellular imaging probe for HSO₃⁻, with the capability of specific lysosomal localization.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>We have developed a simple and effective strategy to improve the water solubility of AIEgens for bioimaging of important biomarkers in live cells. This method avoided complex chemical modifications, and enabled efficient detection of HSO₃⁻ in biological systems. By selecting MOCs with appropriate cavity sizes, this strategy is promising to accommodate various AIEgens in the future, offering a generalizable solution to facilitate their bioimaging applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344966"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145651121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A smartphone-assisted dual-mode sensor for synchronous detection of Microcystin-LR in environmental water via Temperature–Multicolour dual signals","authors":"Hongjian Lin ,&nbsp;Yiwen Zhu ,&nbsp;Xiaoya Chen,&nbsp;Huilian Sun,&nbsp;Xinyu Cao,&nbsp;Mengyu Tao,&nbsp;Jingqi Zhou,&nbsp;Hong Huang,&nbsp;Bingyong Lin,&nbsp;Longhua Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344977","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344977","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The direct reading of a signal is one of the essential requirements for field testing. However, quantitative analysis based on a single signal is prone to false positives and false negatives, compromising monitoring reliability. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method that can enhance the reliability of detection achieved through simple quantitative signal readings. In this work, a temperature–multicolour dual-mode sensor was fabricated based on the localized surface plasmon resonance and photothermal effects of gold nanorods (Au NRs) to enable synchronous dual-signal detection of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in environmental water.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The proposed sensor offers the advantages of sensitive, synchronous, and simple dual-signal reading with the aid of a smartphone equipped with an infrared temperature probe. Both the temperature signal (ΔT) and the multicolour signal (R/G) exhibit strong linear correlations with the concentration of MC-LR. To evaluate the sensor's environmental monitoring performance, environmental water samples from different areas were analysed. Compared with the commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method, the proposed sensor achieved a lower limit of detection and produced comparable results using only signal readings obtained with a smartphone equipped with an infrared temperature probe, without the need for additional professional equipment. Moreover, excellent recoveries were obtained in the detection of spiked environmental water samples.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Two independent signals can be used to validate each other, thereby improving the reliability of detection. Therefore, the proposed smartphone-assisted temperature–multicolour dual-mode sensor shows strong potential for point-of-care testing, particularly in water quality monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344977"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145691639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cholesterol affinity recognition for extracellular vesicle isolation and metabolomics analysis in liver disease","authors":"Shilong Zhao,&nbsp;Luxi Chen,&nbsp;Aixiang Bu,&nbsp;Guangyao Wu,&nbsp;Wenjing Yu,&nbsp;Lianghai Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344950","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344950","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Extracellular vesicles (EVs), abundant in bodily fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva, have emerged as promising biomarker sources for disease diagnosis due to their rich content of metabolites, proteins, and nucleic acids. Efficient isolation of EVs remains a significant challenge. Currently, commonly used EV enrichment methods include ultracentrifugation (UC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), antibody-based affinity methods, and polymer precipitation. These methods face limitations such as high costs, complex operations, and contamination risks. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the development of rapid and efficient methods for EV isolation.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In this study, we developed a strategy for synthesizing cholesterol-imprinted polymers via a one-pot reverse microemulsion approach, enabling rapid and high-yield enrichment of urinary EVs. Notably, this approach requires only a minimal amount of sample (4 mg) to achieve rapid separation (50 min) with high recovery rate (79 %), demonstrating significant improvements in both efficiency and practicality compared to conventional techniques. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-ion mobility-mass spectrometry, we achieved high-resolution separation and detection of EV metabolites. The analytical system demonstrated excellent sensitivity, with a signal-to-noise ratio &gt;2000:1 for 1 pg of reserpine, and high mass accuracy (resolution ≥80,000 FWHM). Metabolomic analysis of EVs from clinical samples (9 Cirrhosis, 12 Liver cancer, and 10 Healthy controls) successfully differentiated the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of four representative metabolites yielded area under the curve (AUC) values greater than 0.7, indicating promising diagnostic potential.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>In conclusion, the cholesterol-imprinted polymer developed in this study enables high-yield enrichment and isolation of EVs from 2 mL of urine within 50 min. Metabolomic analysis of the enriched urinary EVs from clinical samples successfully classified and predicted different pathological conditions. This approach provides an efficient strategy for urinary EV enrichment and offers a promising platform for broader liquid biopsy applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344950"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145619402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydrogel-based electrochemical microneedles biosensor for sensitive monitoring of lactic acid in interstitial fluid","authors":"Yiyue Qu ,&nbsp;Ran Chen ,&nbsp;Jie Chen ,&nbsp;Qian Li ,&nbsp;Mostafa R. Abukhadra ,&nbsp;Ahmed M. ElSherbeeny ,&nbsp;Lili Jin ,&nbsp;Qingwei Jiang ,&nbsp;Shilun Feng ,&nbsp;Shengtai Bian","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344965","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344965","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Lactic acid is a critical biomarker for pathology and physiological status in health and sports. Current monitoring relies on invasive blood tests performed by professionals in clinical settings, limiting accessibility, frequency, and real-time insight. This creates a significant barrier to personalized health and performance management. There is a clear need for a painless, portable, user-operable method to enable continuous lactic acid monitoring outside the lab.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>We present a portable hydrogel microneedle (MN) biosensor for rapid, continuous, and painless lactic acid detection in interstitial fluid (ISF). The device features a detachable electrode integrated into a MN patch, enabling both in-home and mobile use. It achieves real-time data transmission for user health management. Key performance metrics include a wide linear detection range up to 2 mM, high sensitivity of 19.45 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻², and a low limit of detection of 3.6 μM, demonstrating its capability for accurate physiological monitoring.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>This work provides a minimally invasive, cost-effective alternative to blood-based lactic acid testing, significantly improving patient compliance and accessibility. Its portability and real-time data capabilities empower individuals to proactively manage health and athletic performance. This technology represents a paradigm shift towards user-friendly point-of-care monitoring, with transformative potential for personalized healthcare and sports science applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344965"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145619586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ultrafast response recovery room temperature triethylamine sensor based on La2(WO4)3/SnO2 heterojunction","authors":"Zhihua Zhao ,&nbsp;Bingbing Wang ,&nbsp;Zhiyi Zhang ,&nbsp;Huiqin Li ,&nbsp;Jingjing Tang ,&nbsp;Peijuan Wu ,&nbsp;Lan Wu ,&nbsp;Qilin Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344949","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344949","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Triethylamine (TEA), a volatile chemical marker released during seafood spoilage, not only indicates food freshness but also poses respiratory hazards, underscoring the need for reliable gas sensing. Current TEA detection technologies are often constrained by high operating temperatures, limited sensitivity in the ppb range, and sluggish response/recovery behavior, leading to excessive energy use and restricted real-world applicability. To overcome these limitations, this study focuses on developing a room-temperature TEA sensor capable of ultrasensitive and rapid detection, supporting both energy-efficient operation and sustainable monitoring solutions.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>We successfully synthesized SnO₂ hollow spheres and La₂(WO₄)₃ nanoparticles via a solvothermal method and constructed La₂(WO₄)₃/SnO₂ (LSO) nanocomposites with the aim of developing a highly efficient sensor for triethylamine (TEA) detection. The results show that the LSO exhibited a notable enhancement in TEA gas sensing properties at room temperature. Specifically, it was observed that the LSO-4 heterojunctions exhibited response to 100 ppm TEA could reach to 5.24, which was approximately 3.14 times better than that of pure SnO₂. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the enhanced TEA adsorption capacity of the LSO heterojunction, while clarifying the underlying electron transfer mechanism. Practical application tests showed that the sensor could effectively detect TEA, demonstrating excellent sensitivity, stability, and repeatability, thereby providing feasibility for its application in monitoring of harmful gases in the environment.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>This work reports the first example of fabrication La₂(WO₄)₃/SnO₂ heterojunctions for gas sensors. The sensors can detect ppb level TEA gas at room temperature, and meanwhile, the sensors have the advantage of ultrafast response and recovery, which is not normal for the room temperature gas sensor, which thus support their practical application in the field of food quality monitoring and harmful gas control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344949"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145613967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sensor array based on Co-based nanozymes for rapid identification of multiple synthetic phenolic antioxidants","authors":"Xuan Xu,&nbsp;Baoquan Chen,&nbsp;Xufei Liu,&nbsp;Chunmeng Deng,&nbsp;Guanghua Mao,&nbsp;Dali Wei,&nbsp;Xiangyang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344969","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344969","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Synthetic phenolic antioxidants are a class of compounds with phenolic structure prepared by chemical synthesis, which are mainly used in foods, plastics, and rubbers to slow down the oxidation process, but excessive consumption may pose a threat to human health. However, it is difficult to achieve rapid and efficient detection of multiple synthetic phenolic antioxidants by existing methods. To circumvent this issue, we prepared a novel nanozyme sensor array based on two cobalt-based nanozymes (Co-MOFs and CoOOH) with high oxidase-like activity for rapid differentiation of six synthetic phenolic antioxidants, including propyl gallate (PG), tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), 2,6-Di-<em>tert</em>-butyl-4-hydroxymethylphenol (BHT-OH) and 3,5-Di-<em>tert</em>-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (BHT-COOH). Wherein, the obtained Co-MOFs and CoOOH nanozymes showed good oxidase-like activity and exhibited high stability. Of interest, the synthetic phenolic antioxidants could differentially modulate the oxidase-like activities of Co-MOFs and CoOOH nanozymes, which could be converted into colorimetric signals. The proposed nanozyme sensor array can characterize six synthetic phenolic antioxidants and their multi-component mixtures in the concentration range of 0.015–1 mM. Our findings present a straightforward and efficient approach for identifying and quantifying synthetic phenolic antioxidants, advancing the development of sensor array technologies for detecting diverse contaminants in environmental monitoring and food safety applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344969"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145619405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Carbon dot-enhanced nanobody-based fluorescence immunoassay for ultrasensitive Listeria monocytogenes detection in dairy products","authors":"Xuan Liu ,&nbsp;Shurong Li ,&nbsp;Juan Wei ,&nbsp;Xueyi Fan ,&nbsp;Kai Zheng ,&nbsp;Qinkai Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaohui Du ,&nbsp;Ruixue Feng ,&nbsp;Peixiang Wang ,&nbsp;Jianlong Wang ,&nbsp;Yanru Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344954","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344954","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Listeria monocytogenes</em> (<em>L. monocytogenes</em>), a psychrophilic Gram-positive bacterium, causes severe foodborne listeriosis outbreaks. However, rapid, accurate diagnostic assays for this pathogen in complex food matrices remain limited. Herein, we established a phage-displayed nanobody (Nb) library by immunizing a bactrian camel with inactivated <em>L. monocytogenes</em>. After biopanning, four specific Nbs were obtained with good specificity and thermal stability. Using soluble Nbs as capture antibodies and phage-displayed nanobodies as detecting antibodies, a fluorescent ELISA for <em>L. monocytogenes</em> was constructed by employing carbon dots as fluorescent probes based on the inner filter effect-mediated quenching. The developed assay exhibited a limit of detection of 3.21 × 10³ CFU/mL, demonstrating a 144-fold enhancement over conventional ELISA, enabling highly sensitive and specific pathogen detection. In real sample analysis, the average recoveries ranged from 97.6 to 119.6 % and the relative standard deviation below 6.3 %, showcasing significant potential in food analysis applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344954"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145613973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Photoelectrochemical detection of epigenetic 5-hydroxymethylcytosine based on Cu2O@CuO@Ag and self-triggered isothermal amplification","authors":"Huamin Liu ,&nbsp;Ziyi Zheng ,&nbsp;Can Zhou ,&nbsp;Zixin Chen ,&nbsp;Kexing Peng ,&nbsp;Chenghong Li ,&nbsp;Hui Huang ,&nbsp;Lina Wang ,&nbsp;Yi Liu ,&nbsp;Lulu Li ,&nbsp;Shuang Xu ,&nbsp;Yimei Li ,&nbsp;Yiyuqing Yang ,&nbsp;Yang Xiang ,&nbsp;Junsong Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344968","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aca.2025.344968","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Epigenetic DNA hydroxymethylation, particularly 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), has emerged as a promising biomarker for early and specific tumor diagnosis. This modification serves as a critical regulator of gene expression, and its aberrant levels correlate directly with tumor initiation, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Quantitative analysis of sequence-specific 5hmC modifications offers valuable insights into dynamic epigenetic patterns associated with disease progression. Consequently, developing highly sensitive methods for quantitative detection of 5hmC is crucial for advancing epigenetic detection and diagnosis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In this study, we engineered a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of the epigenetic biomarker 5hmC. The sensor utilized a ternary heterojunction Cu₂O@CuO@Ag as the photoactive material, whose unique band structure facilitated efficient charge separation and generated a stable initial photocurrent. The detection mechanism initiated with a click chemistry-mediated azide reaction targeting 5hmC, forming Y-shaped DNA scaffolds. These scaffolds activated a self-triggered isothermal amplification cascade, enzymatically recycling trace targets into abundant trigger P sequences. Subsequently, alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-conjugated probes catalyzed the hydrolysis of ascorbic acid phosphate (AAP), producing ascorbic acid (AA) as an electron donor. The amplified AA significantly enhanced electron transfer to the photoanode, enabling quantification of 5hmC DNA in buffer down to 0.56 fM with high specificity. This integrated signal amplification strategy provides a powerful platform for epigenetic analysis in clinical diagnostics.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>In conclusion, this strategy offers a novel approach for ultrasensitive quantification of natural DNA base modifications (e.g., 5hmC). By integrating ternary Cu₂O@CuO@Ag heterojunction photoanodes with self-triggered isothermal amplification, it achieved 0.56 fM detection limit, opening avenues for clinical epigenetics, early cancer screening, and liquid biopsy applications in complex samples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":240,"journal":{"name":"Analytica Chimica Acta","volume":"1384 ","pages":"Article 344968"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145619633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}