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Protein film electrochemistry

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 3, Article number: 77 (2023) Cite this article

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Abstract

Protein film electrochemistry (PFE) is a powerful suite of electroanalytical techniques used to investigate the properties of redox proteins. The proteins under investigation are adsorbed as a (sub-)monolayer film on an electrode surface. Direct electron transfer between the immobilized protein and working electrode gives rise to an electrical current that visualizes and quantifies redox processes occurring within the protein. Advantages of PFE include low sample requirements — typically less than a nanomole protein — high sensitivity and the ability to resolve redox chemistry in the electrochemical potential and time domains. This Primer provides a guide to using PFE for quantitative thermodynamic and kinetic descriptions of half-reactions (redox reactions) and coupled chemical processes, including ligand binding, ligand unbinding and redox catalysis. Applications of PFE in developing biosensors, facilitating energy conversion and resolving enzyme mechanisms are highlighted. Finally, the state of the art and prospects for novel experimental and theoretical approaches are discussed.

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Fig. 1: Concept of protein film electrochemistry.
Fig. 2: Schematics of electrochemical cells.
Fig. 3: Non-catalytic peaks in the cyclic voltammetry of adsorbed proteins.
Fig. 4: Trumpet plots and ligand binding and unbinding.
Fig. 5: Redox catalysis.
Fig. 6: Biosensing.
Fig. 7: Photoreactivity.
Fig. 8: Enzyme mechanism.

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Acknowledgements

J.N.B. and L.J.C.J. thank F. Armstrong for inspiring and guiding their introduction to PFE and the many students and co-workers with whom they have subsequently collaborated in applying and developing the technique. They are grateful for long-term funding from UK Research Councils, notably BBSRC most recently through grants BB/S000704/1 and BB/S002499/1. J.A.J.B. is funded by a PhD studentship from the University of East Anglia and A.L.S-C. by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (Grant no. BB/T008717/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Julea N. Butt, Joshua A. J. Burton & Alexander L. Sutton-Cook

  2. Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

    Lars J. C. Jeuken & Huijie Zhang

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  1. Julea N. Butt
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  2. Lars J. C. Jeuken
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  3. Huijie Zhang
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Contributions

Introduction (J.N.B. and L.J.C.J.); Experimentation (J.N.B. and L.J.C.J.); Results (J.N.B., L.J.C.J., H.Z., J.A.J.B. and A.L.S.-C.); Applications (J.N.B., L.J.C.J. and H.Z.); Reproducibility and data deposition (J.N.B., L.J.C.J. and H.Z.); Limitations and optimizations (J.N.B., L.J.C.J. and H.Z.); Outlook (J.N.B., L.J.C.J. and H.Z.); Overview of the Primer (all authors).

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Correspondence to Julea N. Butt or Lars J. C. Jeuken.

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Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks Rubin Gulaboski, Christophe Leger and Frieder Scheller for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Glossary

Chronoamperometry

A technique in which electric current is measured as a function of time with the working electrode held at a defined electric potential or stepped between two or more defined electric potentials.

Counter electrode

An electrode that carries electric current flowing in a three-electrode electrochemical cell. Electrochemical processes occurring at this electrode are not of interest.

Cyclic voltammetry

A technique in which the current is measured as the working electrode potential is ramped linearly with time. When a defined working electrode potential is reached, the potential is ramped linearly in the opposite direction to return the working electrode to its initial potential.

Faradaic current

Electric current generated by the oxidation or reduction of species at a working electrode.

Non-Faradaic current

Electric current measured in an electrochemical cell that is not due to redox processes. Typically, this current arises from migration of ions in response to the electric potential applied to an electrode.

Redox catalysis

The interconversion of reactants and products through a redox reaction catalysed by an enzyme. For an enzyme-catalysed reaction, the reactants are often referred to as substrates.

Reference electrode

An electrode with a stable and defined electrode potential. The potential of the working electrode is defined relative to that of the reference electrode.

Working electrode

The electrode at which redox chemistry of interest occurs in a three-electrode electrochemical cell.

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Butt, J.N., Jeuken, L.J.C., Zhang, H. et al. Protein film electrochemistry. Nat Rev Methods Primers 3, 77 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00262-7

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