Development of a MOF-based Material for Cholesterol Detection

Abstract

A Master of Science thesis in Biomedical Engineering by Heba Farid Abed entitled, “Development of a MOF-based Material for Cholesterol Detection”, submitted in May 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Rana Sabouni and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Mehdi Ghommem. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Cholesterol detection is essential for early diagnosis and monitoring of cholesterol-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, and liver diseases. A variety of nanomaterials have been designed and synthesized for cholesterol detection via electrochemical and spectrophotometric techniques. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising detector materials for cholesterol sensing. Recent research has explored MOFs as spectrophotometric cholesterol sensors with remarkable performance in terms of limit of detection (LOD) and selectivity. Given the growing interest in cholesterol sensing and limitations of existing biosensors, this thesis aims to develop a novel MOF-based spectrophotometric sensing platform for cholesterol detection. First, this thesis reviews recent advances in MOF-based spectrophotometric cholesterol sensors, outlining the different mechanistic roles of MOFs in cholesterol detection, current challenges, and potential applications of MOF-based sensors for cholesterol detection in point-of-care devices and medical diagnostics. Then, iron-based MOF (Fe-BTC) is introduced as a novel, peroxidase mimic nanozyme for cholesterol detection, marking its first reported use in this application. Characterization studies, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and zeta potential, revealed stable, amorphous nature of Fe-BTC and potential peroxidase activity. Parametric studies including pH, time, temperature, and reagent concentrations were performed to determine optimal conditions for H2O2 and cholesterol detection. Mechanistic studies demonstrated biosensor operation via OH· radical formation by Fe-BTC. The present biosensor achieved a cholesterol limit of detection (LOD) of 2.91 μM and 2.88 μM at 25 ⁰C and 37 ⁰C cholesterol incubation, respectively, with a linear detection range of 6.56–78.75 μM. The biosensor had good selectivity to cholesterol in the presence of interfering analytes, including glycine, uric acid, glucose, and NaCl. Overall, our novel Fe-BTC-based biosensor demonstrated comparable performance to nanomaterial-based cholesterol sensors reported in the literature and shows great promise for cholesterol detection via spectrophotometric methods.College of EngineeringMultidisciplinary ProgramsMaster of Science in Biomedical Engineering (MSBME