2D Fe/Co-MOF/SOX cascade reactors for fast noninvasive detection of sarcosine level in prostate cancer urine

Abstract

Sarcosine plays a key role in screening for early prostate cancer. However, the several already reported peroxidase mimics immobilized with sarcosine oxidase (SOX) utilized to detect uriary sarcosine still have some limitations such as complex synthesis process, using of expensive heavy metals to mimic enzyme activity and long color development time. Herein, an inexpensive peroxidase-like 2D Fe/Co-MOF nanosheet was prepared by a simple solvent modulation method. The resultant 2D Fe/Co-MOF nanosheets have strong peroxidase activity, with its Vmax value for H2O2 of 15.3 × 10-8 M/s, being 1.76 times that of HRP. Then, using the 2D Fe/Co-MOF as a peroxidase model for anchoring natural SOX to construct 2D Fe/Co-MOF/SOX , which can act as a cascade reactor for detection of sarcosine. Considering the above properties, a platform for the detection of sarcosine was built based on a colorimetric method. Because of presence of the high ratio of Fe2+ caused by the electron transfer from Co2+ to Fe3+, large specific surface area and plentiful active sites, 2D Fe/Co-MOF/SOX with TMB (3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine) colorimetric reagent could have fast color development and can be applied conveniently and fastly in an early screening tool for prostate cancer patients. The sarcosine could be quantified by peroxidase activity with a detection range of 1–400 μM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.324 μM. More importantly, the average sarcosine concentration of 21.367 μM and 1.871 μM was detected in patient’s and normal urine (n = 5), respectively, which showed an excellent screening effect and a great potential in early prostate cancer.