Label-Free Photonic Crystal-Based β-Lactamase Biosensor for β-Lactam Antibiotic and β-Lactamase Inhibitor

A simple, label-free, and visual photonic crystal-based β-lactamase biosensor was developed for β-lactam antibiotic and β-lactamase inhibitor in which the penicillinase (a β-lactamase) was immobilized on the pH-sensitive colloidal crystal hydrogel (CCH) film to form penicillinase colloidal crystal hydrogel (PCCH) biosensing film. The hydrolysis of penicillin G (a β-lactam antibiotic) can be catalyzed by penicillinase to produce penicilloic acid, leading to a pH decrease in the microenvironment of PCCH film, which causes the shrink of pH-sensitive CCH film and triggers a blue-shift of the diffraction wavelength. Upon the addition of β-lactamase inhibitor, the hydrolysis reaction is suppressed and no clear blue-shift is observed. The concentrations of β-lactam antibiotic and β-lactamase inhibitor can be sensitively evaluated by measuring the diffraction shifts. The minimum detectable concentrations for penicillin G and clavulanate potassium (a β-lactamase inhibitor) can reach 1 and 0.1 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method is highly reversible and selective, and it allows determination of penicillin G in fish pond water samples.