Amperometric microcells for alkaline phosphatase assay.

To develop simple electrochemical immunoassays, a screen printed amperometric microcell with graphite working and Ag/AgCl reference electrodes was tested for the determination of alkaline phosphatase enzyme (ALP) and anti-humanIgG conjugated ALP (alpha-hIgG-ALP) activity in 5-10 microl samples. To ensure reproducible, steady state conditions, the working electrode surface was coated with mass-transport controlling hydrogel layer. The kinetic response curves of the hydrogel coated electrodes were linear. In addition, the hydrogel layer reduced the nonspecific adsorption of the alpha-hIgG-ALP conjugate on the working electrode surface. The measurements were made in the range of 2 divided by 4000 mU ml(-1) enzyme activities using ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AAP) as the enzyme substrate. AAP is commercially available, non-toxic and has excellent stability. The sensitivity of the determinations was about 71% of the sensitivity which could be achieved using p-aminophenylphosphate (PAPP), a not easily accessible and unstable enzyme substrate. The experimentally determined kinetic parameters of the ALP enzyme catalyzed reactions were the same with the bare and hydrogel layer coated electrodes.