Disposable electrochemical DNA biosensor for environmental monitoring of toxicant 2-aminoanthracene in the presence of chlorine in real samples

Abstract

A simple procedure for the voltammetric detection of the DNA damage using a disposable electrochemical DNA biosensor is reported. The DNA biosensor is assembled by immobilizing the double stranded calf thymus DNA (dsDNA) on the surface of a disposable carbon screen-printed electrode. The interaction of 2-aminoanthracene (2-AA) with calf thymus dsDNA was studied electrochemically based on the oxidation signals of guanine (G) and adenine (A) by using square wave voltammetry (SWV) at screen printed electrode (SPE). The oxidation signals of the guanine and adenine bases, obtained by a square wave voltammetric scan, were used as analytical signal to detect the DNA damage. The presence of this aromatic amine compound with affinity for nucleic acids was measured by its effect on the guanine and adenine oxidation peaks. The response was obtained in the range of 0.05–20 mg L−1 for 2-AA concentration on dsDNA-modified SPE. This test has been used due to its rapid, easy handling and cost effective responses for the toxicity assessment in real water and bleach solution samples. A low-cost screen-printed DNA biosensor was developed as a simple strategy for the voltammetric detection of the DNA damage. The natural electrochemistry of guanine and adenine bases was exploited to develop the DNA-based biosensor.