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We report a new kind of electrochemical molecular beacon, termed “electrochemically active–inactive switching molecular beacon”, for direct detection of DNA in homogenous solution. The electrochemical molecular beacon consists of a stable stem-loop oligonucleotide carrying two carminic acid moieties (acting as electrochemical reporter) attached at its termini. In a close form, the electrochemical signal is quenched because two carminic acid moieties are close enough to associate into dimer. In the presence of the complementary DNA target, the electrochemical molecular beacon undergoes a conformational transformation from closed (hairpin) to open (linear) structure, which is associated with an increase in electrochemical signal. We found that the electrochemical molecular beacon is as effective as conventional molecular beacon in signaling the presence of complementary target and discriminating targets that differ by a single nucleotide. The proposed electrochemical molecular beacon has a great potential for investigating the interactions of DNA-protein and developing electrochemical real-time polymerase chain reaction. Keywords: DNA, Electrochemical molecular beacon, Molecular recognition, Nucleotides, Probe

Aligned carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) electrode has been developed for the direct protein electrochemistry and enzyme-biosensor study involving two types of nanoparticles. Pt nanoparticles (Ptnano) were electro-modified on the ACNTs’ each tube, greatly increasing the electrode surface area for locating protein and also its electronic transfer ability. Glucose oxidase (GOD) with chitosan (CS) and CdS nanoparticles electrochemically coated on each tube of ACNTs–Ptnano by the electrodeposition reaction of CS when pH value passing its pKa. The CdS nanoparticles between ACNTs electrode and GOD have stimulated the GOD’s direct electron transfer during its redox reaction of FAD/FADH2. The CS–GOD–CdS/ACNTs–Ptnano electrode also offer sensitive response to the substrate of glucose with detection limit of 46.8 μM (S/N = 3) and apparent Michaelis–Menten constant of 11.86 mM. Keywords: Aligned carbon nanotubes, Glucose oxidase, Chitosan, Direct electron transfer, Biosensor

A thionine modified aligned carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) electrode was fabricated and was used to electrochemically determine nitrite. The thionine modified ACNTs electrode exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic behavior to the oxidation of nitrite. The electrochemical mechanism of the thionine/ACNTs electrode towards the oxidation of nitrite was discussed. The thionine modified ACNTs electrode exhibited fast response towards nitrite with a detection limit of 1.12 × 10−6 mol L−1 and a linear range of 3 × 10−6 – 5 × 10−4 mol L−1. The proposed method was successfully applied in the detection of nitrite in real samples. Keywords: Thionine, Aligned carbon nanotubes, Nitrite, Modified electrode, Electrocatalytic oxidation