Electrochemical Response of Redox Amino Acid Encoded Fluorescence Protein for Hydroxychloroquine Sensing

The sudden rise in the demand has led to large-scale production of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the global market for various diseases such as malaria, rheumatic arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematous and prophylactic treatment of early SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Thorough monitoring of HCQ intake patients is in high demand; hence, we have developed a redox amino acid encoded fluorescent protein-based electrochemical biosensor for sensitive and selective detection of HCQ. This electrochemical biosensor is generated based on the two-electron transfer process between redox amino acid (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine, DOPA) encoded bio-redox protein and the HCQ forms the conjugate. The DOPA residue in the bio-redox protein specifically binds with HCQ, thereby producing a remarkable electrochemical response on the glassy carbon electrode. Experimental results show that the developed biosensor selectively and sensitively detects the HCQ in spiked urine samples. The reagent-free bio-redox capacitor detects HCQ in the range of 90 nM to 4.4 µM in a solution with a detection limit of 58 nM, signal to noise ratio of 3:1, and strong anti-interference ability. Real-time screening, quantification, and relative mean recoveries of HCQ on spiked urine samples were monitored through electron shuttling using bio-redox protein and were found to be 97 to 101%. Overall, the developed bio-redox protein-based sensor has specificity, selectivity, reproducibility, and sensitivity making it potentially attractive for the sensing of HCQ and also applicable to clinical research.