The assembly of a novel layer-by-layer biosensor architecture using hybrid nanomaterials is explored for the construction of an amperometric enzyme biosensors. The nanostructured sensing interface was prepared with poly(dopamine)-modified magnetic nanoparticles which were covalently coated with four-generation ethylenediamine core polyamidoamine G-4 dendrimers and further decorated with platinum nanoparticles. This nanohybrid was fully characterized and further layered on glassy carbon electrodes coated with a graphene oxide-carboxymethylcellulose hybrid nanomaterial through electrostatic interactions. The nanostructured surface was then employed as scaffold for the covalent immobilization of the enzyme xanthine oxidase through a glutaraldehyde-mediated cross-linking. The enzyme electrode allowed the amperometric detection of xanthine in the 50 nM-12 mu M range, with a high sensitivity of 140 mA/M cm(2) and low detection limit of 13 nM. The biosensor exhibited high reproducibility and repeatability, and was successfully tested for the quantification of xanthine in fish samples.