Enzyme encapsulation into zeolitic imidazolate framework-8/graphene oxide (ZIF-8/GO) for enhanced stability and DNA-mediated catalytic performance

A long-standing challenge for natural enzyme based catalysis is low stability under harsh conditions. We herein demonstrated a de nova approach to synthesize an enzyme encapsulated in ZIF-8/GO (HRP@ZIF-8/GO). The hybrid coating of ZIF-8/GO could provide HRP with tolerance towards various harsh environments (e.g.in the presence of proteolytic or chemical agents or at high temperature), as well as increased apparent substrate affinity. The feasibility of this biomimetic strategy for biostorage, enzyme cascades, and biosensing was also verified. Furthermore, owing to the introduction of functional graphene, the immobilized HRP displayed DNA-mediated controllable peroxidase (POD) activity, which was further employed to establish universal colorimetric aptasensor using antibiotic as model analyte. With this method, more analytical and biomedical applications of fragile enzymes can be exploited at extreme conditions, and it may also inspire other strategies to apply natural enzymes into industrial catalysis processes.