A sensitive colorimetric label-free assay for trypsin and inhibitor screening with gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with negative charges aggregate in the presence of Arg₆ due to electrostatic interactions resulting in the red-shift of the plasmon absorption. But, after incubation of Arg₆ with trypsin the aggregation of Au-NPs can be prohibited. Accordingly, a newly designed-Au-NPs based colorimetric assay method for trypsin activity is established. Trypsin with a concentration as low as 1.6 ng mL⁻¹ can be assayed with this new colorimetric assay. This colorimetric label-free assay for trypsin can be performed in aqueous solution and both Au-NPs and Arg₆ are easily accessible. Thus, this assay method is useful for screening inhibitors of trypsin.