Construction of uricase-overproducing strains of Hansenula polymorpha and its application as biological recognition element in microbial urate biosensor

BACKGROUND The detection and quantification of uric acid in human physiological fluids is of great importance in the diagnosis and therapy of patients suffering from a range of disorders associated with altered purine metabolism, most notably gout and hyperuricaemia. The fabrication of cheap and reliable urate-selective amperometric biosensors is a challenging task. RESULTS A urate-selective microbial biosensor was developed using cells of the recombinant thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha as biorecognition element. The construction of uricase (UOX) producing yeast by over-expression of the uricase gene of H. polymorpha is described. Following a preliminary screening of the transformants with increased UOX activity in permeabilized yeast cells the optimal cultivation conditions for maximal UOX yield namely a 40-fold increase in UOX activity were determined.The UOX producing cells were coupled to horseradish peroxidase and immobilized on graphite electrodes by physical entrapment behind a dialysis membrane. A high urate selectivity with a detection limit of about 8 μM was found. CONCLUSION A strain of H. polymorpha overproducing UOX was constructed. A cheap urate selective microbial biosensor was developed.