Alanine aminotransferase electrochemical sensor based on graphene@MXene composite nanomaterials

Graphene@MXene composite nanomaterials were utilized to construct an electrochemical sensor for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) detection. The combination of graphene nanosheets with MXene avoids the self-stacking of MXene and graphene, and broadens the charge transfer channel. In addition, the composite nanomaterial provides increased loading sites for pyruvate oxidase. The principle of ALT detection is a two-step enzymatic reaction. l -Alanine was initially transferred to pyruvate catalyzed by ALT. The formed pyruvate was then oxidized by pyruvate oxidase, generating H 2 O 2 . Through the detection of the generated H 2 O 2 , ALT activity was measured. The linear range of the sensor to ALT was from 5 to 400 U·L −1 with a detection limit of 0.16 U·L −1 (S/N = 3). For real sample analysis, the spiked recovery test results of ALT in serum samples were between 96.89 and 103.93% with RSD < 5%, confirming the reliability of the sensor testing results and potential clinical application of the sensor. Graphical Abstract