Impedance spectroscopy analysis of human odorant binding proteins immobilized on nanopore arrays for biochemical detection

Human odorant-binding proteins (hOBPs) not only can bind and transport odorants in the surrounding environment for sensing smells, but also play important roles in transmitting lots of biomolecules in different organs. Utilizing the properties of hOBPs, an electrochemical biosensor with nanopore array was developed to detect specific biomolecular ligands, such as aldehydes and fatty acids. The highly ordered nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide with diameter of 20–40nm were fabricated with two-step oxidation. Through 2-carboxyethyl phosphonic acid, hOBPs were self-assembled on nanopores as the sensing membrane. With nanopore arrays, the impedance spectra showed quite different electron transfer processes in the frequency spectra, which could be characterized by the electron transfer resistance and electrical resistance of the porous membrane. Under stimulation of biomolecular ligands, series resistance of nanopores and hOBPs increased and showed a concentration-dependence feature, while the electron transfer resistance hardly changed. The nanopore based biosensor could sensitively detect biological ligands of benzaldehyde, docosahexaenoic acid, and lauric acid, which were closely related to or were potential biomarkers for cancers and other serious diseases. Equipped with hOBPs, the sensor exhibited promising potentials both in odorant and biomolecule detection for olfactory biosensing and in disease diagnosis and evaluation for biochemical detection. •Impedance biosensor based on human odorant-binding proteins (hOBPs) was designed.•Ligands of aldehydes and fatty acids were detected by the nanopore based biosensor.•An equivalent circuit of nanopores based biosensor was developed.•Impedance spectroscopy of hOBPs functionalized nanopore arrays was analyzed.•Protein–ligand interactions and protein conformations in impedance were discussed.