Colorimetric screening of β-glucosidase inhibition based on gold nanocomposites

• Published in: Analytical methods 2014-01, Vol.6 (1), p.312-315
• Main Authors: Lai, Cui, Zeng, Guang-Ming, Huang, Dan-Lian, Zhao, Mei-Hua, Chen, Ming, Wei, Zhen, Huang, Chao, Xu, Piao, Li, Ning-Jie, Li, Xue, Zhang, Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Colorimetry
• ISSN: 1759-9660; 1759-9679
• DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41233D

This article presents a simple gold-cellobiose nanocomposites based colorimetric assay for the screening of beta -glucosidase inhibitors. The nanocomposites are composed of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), particular cellobiose substrates, and 6-mercapto-1-hexanol. After beta -glucosidase digestion, the AuNPs become more exposed and the attractive force between AuNPs is increased by the modified 6-mercapto-1-hexanol. Consequently, the aggregation of nanocomposites and the red shift of surface plasmon absorption can be observed. The absorbance ratio at 650 nm and 520 nm (A sub(650)/A sub(520)) of nanocomposites can be used to estimate the beta -glucosidase activity. This technology could serve an alternative platform for the efficient screening of beta -glucosidase inhibitors. Both the inhibition effect of heavy metals and surfactants on beta -glucosidase could be analyzed by the detection of beta -glucosidase activity. To summarize, the goal of this technical note is to develop a simple colorimetric method for the screening of beta -glucosidase inhibitors.