Functionalized carbon quantum dots with dopamine for tyrosinase activity analysis

Abstract

Tyrosinase (TYR) is a key enzyme in melanin biosynthesis and its activity is an important biomarker for dermatological disorders, such as vitiligo, melanoma and actinic damages. Sensitive assay for TYR activity is significant for basic and clinical research. In this work, a facile fluorescent assay for TYR activity based on dopamine functionalized carbon quantum dots (CQDs-Dopa) has been developed. Dopamine (Dopa) was covalently bond to CQDs through a simple one-pot hydrothermal method, and the prepared CQDs-Dopa exhibited a fluorescence emission at 499 nm under exciting wavelength at 310 nm with a quantum yield of approximately 2.1%. When TYR was mixed with CODs-Dopa, the dopamine moiety in CQDs-Dopa conjugate was oxidized to O-dopaquinone, and an intra-particle photo-induced electron transfer (PET) process consequently occurred between CQDs and O-dopaquinone to quench the fluorescence of CQDs-Dopa. TYR activity can be determined based on the fluorescence quenching degree of CQDs-Dopa. This assay covered two broad linear ranges: 44.4–711.1 U L−1 and 711.1–2925.4 U L−1, with detection limit of 17.7 U L−1. The proposed fluorescent assay was applied to TYR activity measurement in human serum samples. It showed promising potential for TYR activity assay in clinical applications.