A simple strategy to monitor lipase activity using liquid crystal-based sensors

In this study, we developed a simple label-free technique for monitoring the enzymatic activity of lipase using liquid crystal (LC)-based sensors. The optical response of LCs changed from a bright to dark appearance when an aqueous solution of lipase was in contact with a nematic LC, 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), that was doped with glyceryl trioleate, which is a glyceride that can be enzymatically hydrolyzed by lipase. Since the oleic acid released from the enzymatic reaction could spontaneously form a self-assembled monolayer at the aqueous/LC interface due to its amphiphilic property, the orientation of the LCs transited from a planar to homeotropic state, which induced a change in the optical response of the LCs. We did not observe a bright-to-dark shift in the optical appearance of LCs when pure 5CB was immersed into the lipase solution. Moreover, we further confirmed the specificity of the enzymatic reaction by transferring an aqueous buffer solution not containing an analyte, or with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or trypsin onto the interface of aqueous solutions and the glyceryl trioleate-doped 5CB, which did not produce any distinctive contrast in the optical appearance. These results suggest the feasibility of measuring the enzymatic activity of lipase using the LC-based sensing technique. Furthermore, our strategy could also be used for the preparation of a self-assembled monolayer of carboxylates at the aqueous/LC interface.