CH3COOAg with Laccase-like Activity for Differentiation and Detection of Aminoglycoside Antibiotics

Aminoglycoside antibiotics (AGs) are widely used in medicine and animal husbandry, but they pose significant risks due to residual toxicity and antibiotic resistance. In this study, a novel chemical sensor based on the laccase-like activity of CH3COOAg was developed for the selective detection of AGs. CH3COOAg exhibited varying degrees of laccase-like activity in different buffers (MES, HEPES, and NaAc) and H2O, and five AGs showed distinct intensities of the inhibitory effect on the laccase-like activity of CH3COOA in different buffers and H2O. Therefore, a four-channel colorimetric sensor array was constructed in combination with the use of principal component analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) for the efficient identification of five AGs (0.02–0.3 μM) in environment samples like tap and lake water. In addition, a colorimetric method was developed for kanamycin (KAN) detection in a honey sample with a linear range of 10–100 nM (R2 = 0.9977). The method has excellent sensitivity with a limit of detection of 3.99 nM for KAN. This work not only provides a rapid and low-cost detection method for AG monitoring but also provides a reference for the design of non-copper laccase mimics.