Use of an artificial miniaturized enzyme in hydrogen peroxide detection by chemiluminescence

Advanced oxidation processes represent a viable alternative in water reclamation for potable reuse. Sensing methods of hydrogen peroxide are, therefore, needed to test both process progress and final quality of the produced water. Several bio-based assays have been developed so far, mainly relying on peroxidase enzymes, which have the advantage of being fast, efficient, reusable, and environmentally safe. However, their production/purification and, most of all, batch-to-batch consistency may inherently prevent their standardization. Here, we provide evidence that a synthetic de novo miniaturized designed heme-enzyme, namely Mimochrome VI*a, can be proficiently used in hydrogen peroxide assays. Furthermore, a fast and automated assay has been developed by using a lab-bench microplate reader. Under the best working conditions, the assay showed a linear response in the 10.0–120 µM range, together with a second linearity range between 120 and 500 µM for higher hydrogen peroxide concentrations. The detection limit was 4.6 µM and quantitation limits for the two datasets were 15.5 and 186 µM, respectively. In perspective, Mimochrome VI*a could be used as an active biological sensing unit in different sensor configurations.