The enzyme sensor contains three major constituents: 1) a fluorescent probe molecule; 2) a fluorescence quencher attached to a peptide; 3) and a metal surface (gold). Both the fluorescent probes and the quencher-peptide structures are attached to the metal surface in a manner that causes the quencher to absorb light emitted by the fluorescent probe after optical excitation. Upon proteolytic cleavage of the quencherpeptide, the quencher disassociates from the fluorescent probe and results in a measured increase in fluorescence emission. Peptide cleavage on the sensor surface due to the presence of protease will be characterized by measuring fluorescence emission intensity changes using a fluorescence microscope. Sensor response as a function of protease concentration and time of enzymatic exposure will be measured to verify qualitative and quantitative
performance.

Develop a small novel optical biochemical sensor for the detection of biological catalysts for ocean world applications