Evaluating horseradish peroxidase-mimic DNAzyme transducer for glucometer readout: roles of various components and their optimization

Abstract

The Development of decentralized disease detection elements is integral towards ensuring democratized access to healthcare. Personal glucometers, thanks to their low cost, ease of usage, and universal availability, are increasingly being identified as a central tenet of democratized disease detection. Towards this objective, it will first be critical to establish whether glucometers can be integrated with established molecular diagnosis workflows such as enzyme-linked absorbent assay (ELISA) or its analogous techniques such as enzyme-linked aptasorbent assays (ELASA). In ELISA or its analogous assays, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or its mimics, such as hemin DNAzyme conjugated to biorecognition elements (e.g., antibody or aptamers), serve as the signal transducers. These transducers generate colorimetric or electrochemical signals measurable in centralized instruments such as ELISA readers or potentiostats. To become compatible with ELISA readouts in decentralized settings, the glucometers should therefore be able to quantify the activity of HRP mimics such as hemin DNAzyme. The current work thus explores the possibility of the use of glucometers as a general readout instrument for hemin DNAzyme transducer activity involving potassium ferrocyanide as a novel redox substrate. Using both absorbance and glucometer readout, we systematically investigated the role of buffer, pH, redox mediator, and H2O2 in achieving optimal readout conditions. It also probed the prospective DNAzyme operational range under these assay conditions. In addition, transferability of optimized assay parameters in other commercial glucometer brands, as well as preliminary suitability in HRP enzyme, was explored. Altogether, our study explores the possibility of using DNAzymes as transducers for glucometers as a democratized alternative to ELISA readers, multimode readers, or potentiostats towards equitable access to disease diagnosis.