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Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2017) | Viewed by 73824

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alessandra Maria Bossi

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Guest Editor

Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
Interests: development of protein and peptide recognition; biomimetic nanomaterials; strategy of molecular imprinting of polymers and their integration in analytical methods, assays and bio/sensors; activities at cellular and biomolecular level; molecularly imprinted nanoparticles for protein refolding and as tools for biomolecular interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Michael James Whitcombe

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
Interests: molecular imprinting; polymer synthesis; molecular recognition; organic synthesis; sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Under the working principle of biosensors, i.e. the integration of biological, or biomimetic, recognition elements to a transducer to a generate a digital readout signal that is proportional to the target analyte, which is easily understood by the operator, important advances in the analytical field have been reported; such as the development of the glucosimeter. The innovations of biosensor are under continuous development, and encompasses receptors, biomimetics, electronics, transduction, and the latest cell-phone readouts. Within the innovation panorama, the integration of nanomaterials and nanoparticles into biosensing is an area under wide expansion. Because nanomaterials offer unique surface-to-volume ratios, outstanding surface properties, and unique optical and electrical behaviors, their application in biosensing is intended as a means to boost biosensor performance and reach improved sensitivities and signal transduction. In order to highlight some of the latest nanoparticle-biosensor advances, we would like to invite you to consider submitting a manuscript to our upcoming Special Issue, “Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles”, to be published in the beginning of 2018. Under the expanded scope of the journal, the aim of this Special Issue is to gather a collection of papers dedicated to all aspects of nanoparticles in biosensing, with a particular emphasis on novel approaches to sensor design and architecture, signal transduction and novel applications.

We welcome submissions from any area of biosensing, provided that nanoparticles are involved in sensor design or use. Both research papers and review articles will be considered. If you are interested in contributing to this Special Issue, we would very much appreciate receiving the tentative title of your contribution.

Prof. Dr. Alessandra Maria Bossi
Dr. Michael James Whitcombe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Nanoparticles
Nanobiosensors
Nanoplasmonics
Quantum dots
Metal nanoparticles
Fullerenes
Nanodiamond
Nanotubes
Electrochemical Sensors
Optical Sensors

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 5667 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Non-Enzymatic Electrochemical Sensing of Malathion Pesticide in Tomato and Apple Samples Based on Gold Nanoparticles-Chitosan-Ionic Liquid Hybrid Nanocomposite

by Gulcin Bolat and Serdar Abaci

Sensors 2018, 18(3), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18030773 - 04 Mar 2018

Cited by 61 | Viewed by 7334

Abstract

Malathion (MLT) is an organophosphorous type pesticide and having seriously high toxicity and electrochemical platforms for rapid, simple, inexpensive and sensitive determination of pesticides is still a special concern. This paper describes a simple preparation of a composite film consisting of ionic liquid (IL), chitosan (CS) and electrochemically synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on single use pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs). The microscopic and electrochemical characterization of AuNP-CS-IL/PGE was studied using scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This fabricated surface was then explored for the first time as a sensing matrix for the non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing of malathion by cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry measurements. The proposed AuNP-CS-IL/PGE showed excellent characteristics and possessed remarkable affinity for malathion. The voltammetric current response exhibited two linear dynamic ranges, 0.89–5.94 nM and 5.94–44.6 nM reflecting two binding sites, with a detection limit of 0.68 nM. The method was applied in real sample analysis of apple and tomato. The results demonstrate the feasibility of AuNP-CS-IL-modified electrodes for simple, fast, ultrasensitive and inexpensive detection of MLT. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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19 pages, 1050 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Sensing Magnetic Fields with Magnetosensitive Ion Channels

by Igor Goychuk

Sensors 2018, 18(3), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18030728 - 28 Feb 2018

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6264

Abstract

Magnetic nanoparticles are met across many biological species ranging from magnetosensitive bacteria, fishes, bees, bats, rats, birds, to humans. They can be both of biogenetic origin and due to environmental contamination, being either in paramagnetic or ferromagnetic state. The energy of such naturally [...] Read more.

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in the magnetic field of the Earth, which naturally led to supposition that they can serve as sensory elements in various animals. This work explores within a stochastic modeling framework a fascinating hypothesis of magnetosensitive ion channels with magnetic nanoparticles serving as sensory elements, especially, how realistic it is given a highly dissipative viscoelastic interior of living cells and typical sizes of nanoparticles possibly involved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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10 pages, 1485 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wide-Field Fluorescence Microscopy of Real-Time Bioconjugation Sensing

by Marcin Szalkowski, Karolina Sulowska, Justyna Grzelak, Joanna Niedziółka-Jönsson, Ewa Roźniecka, Dorota Kowalska and Sebastian Maćkowski

Sensors 2018, 18(1), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010290 - 19 Jan 2018

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4252

Abstract

We apply wide-field fluorescence microscopy to measure real-time attachment of photosynthetic proteins to plasmonically active silver nanowires. The observation of this effect is enabled, on the one hand, by sensitive detection of fluorescence and, on the other hand, by plasmonic enhancement of protein fluorescence. We examined two sample configurations with substrates being a bare glass coverslip and a coverslip functionalized with a monolayer of streptavidin. The different preparation of the substrate changes the observed behavior as far as attachment of the protein is concerned as well as its subsequent photobleaching. For the latter substrate the conjugation process is measurably slower. The described method can be universally applied in studying protein-nanostructure interactions for real-time fluorescence-based sensing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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3713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synergistic Use of Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs) and “Capillary Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)” for High Sensitivity and Fast Assays

by Wan-Joong Kim, Hyo Young Cho, Bongjin Jeong, Sangwon Byun, JaeDoo Huh and Young Jun Kim

Sensors 2018, 18(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010055 - 26 Dec 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5453

Abstract

Using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on “capillary enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)”, we produced highly sensitive and rapid assays, which are the major attributes for point-of-care applications. First, in order to understand the size effect of AuNPs, AuNPs of varying diameters (5 nm, 10 nm, 15 nm, 20 nm, 30 nm, and 50 nm) conjugated with Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP)-labeled anti-C reactive protein (antiCRP) (AuNP•antiCRP-HRP) were used for well-plate ELISA. AuNP of 10 nm produced the largest optical density, enabling detection of 0.1 ng/mL of CRP with only 30 s of incubation, in contrast to 10 ng/mL for the ELISA run in the absence of AuNP. Then, AuNP of 10 nm conjugated with antiCRP-HRP (AuNP•antiCRP-HRP) was used for “capillary ELISA” to detect as low as 0.1 ng/mL of CRP. Also, kinetic study on both 96-well plates and in a capillary tube using antiCRP-HRP or AuNP•antiCRP-HRP showed a synergistic effect between AuNP and the capillary system, in which the fastest assay was observed from the “AuNP capillary ELISA”, with its maximum absorbance reaching 2.5 min, while the slowest was the typical well-plate ELISA with its maximum absorbance reaching in 13.5 min. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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6847 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Facile Synthesis of Branch-Trunk Ag Hierarchical Nanostructures and Their Applications for High-Performance H₂O₂ Electrochemical Sensors

by Yan Zhang, Meiqiong Chen, Zhiquan Cai, Min Zhang, Peng Liu and Faliang Cheng

Sensors 2017, 17(12), 2896; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17122896 - 13 Dec 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4322

Abstract

A novel branch-trunk Ag hierarchical nanostructure was synthesized via a galvanic replacement reaction combined with microwave-assisted synthesis using Te nanowire as a sacrificial template. The Te nanowire was synthesized via a hydrothermal process. We further investigated the potential application of the obtained hierarchical nanostructures in electrochemical sensor analysis. The results showed that the as-prepared sensor exhibited a wide linear range with 0.05 µM to 1.925 mM (R = 0.998) and the detection limit was estimated to be 0.013 µM (S/N = 3). These results indicate the branch-truck Ag hierarchical nanostructures are an excellent candidate material for sensing applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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2164 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Hydrogen Sensor Based on SNS Fiber Interferometer with Pd/WO₃ Coating

by Jinxin Shao, Wenge Xie, Xi Song and Yanan Zhang

Sensors 2017, 17(9), 2144; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17092144 - 18 Sep 2017

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5498

Abstract

This paper presents a new hydrogen sensor based on a single mode–no core–single mode (SNS) fiber interferometer structure. The surface of the no core fiber (NCF) was coated by Pd/WO₃ film to detect the variation of hydrogen concentration. If the hydrogen concentration changes, the refractive index of the Pd/WO₃ film as well as the boundary condition for light propagating in the NCF will all be changed, which will then cause a shift into the resonant wavelength of interferometer. Therefore, the hydrogen concentration can be deduced by measuring the shift of the resonant wavelength. Experimental results demonstrated that this proposed sensor had a high detection sensitivity of 1.26857 nm/%, with good linearity and high accuracy (maximum 0.0055% hydrogen volume error). Besides, it also possessed the advantages of simple structure, low cost, good stability, and repeatability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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3192 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple and Selective Fluorescent Sensor Chip for Indole-3-Butyric Acid in Mung Bean Sprouts Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Coatings

by Jiahua Chang, Bota Bahethan, Turghun Muhammad, Burabiye Yakup and Mamatimin Abbas

Sensors 2017, 17(9), 1954; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17091954 - 24 Aug 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4811

Abstract

In this paper, we report the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer coatings on quartz chips for selective solid-phase microextraction and fluorescence sensing of the auxin, indole-3-butyric acid. The multiple copolymerization method was used to prepare polymer coatings on silylated quartz chips. The polymer preparation conditions (e.g., the solvent, monomer, and cross-linker) were investigated systemically to enhance the binding performance of the imprinted coatings. Direct solid-phase fluorescence measurements on the chips facilitated monitoring changes in coating performance. The average binding capacity of an imprinted polymer coated chip was approximately 152.9 µg, which was higher than that of a non-imprinted polymer coated chip (60.8 µg); the imprinted coatings showed the highest binding to IBA among the structural analogues, indicating that the coatings possess high selectivity toward the template molecule. The developed method was used for the determination of the auxin in mung bean extraction, and the recovery was found to be in the range of 91.5% to 97.5%, with an RSD (n = 3) of less than 7.4%. Thus, the present study provides a simple method for fabricating a fluorescent sensor chip for selective analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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19454 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Influence of Temperature on the Kaolinite-Base Synthesis of Zeolite and Urease Immobilization for the Potential Fabrication of Electrochemical Urea Biosensors

by David Ebo Anderson, Srinivasan Balapangu, Heidimarie N. A. Fleischer, Ruth A. Viade, Francis D. Krampa, Prosper Kanyong, Gordon A. Awandare and Elvis K. Tiburu

Sensors 2017, 17(8), 1831; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17081831 - 08 Aug 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4751

Abstract

Temperature-dependent zeolite synthesis has revealed a unique surface morphology, surface area and pore size which influence the immobilization of urease on gold electrode supports for biosensor fabrication. XRD characterization has identified zeolite X (Na) at all crystallization temperatures tested. However, N₂ adsorption and desorption results showed a pore size and pore volume of zeolite X (Na) 60 °C, zeolite X (Na) 70 °C and zeolite X (Na) 90 °C to range from 1.92 nm to 2.45 nm and 0.012 cm³/g to 0.061 cm³/g, respectively, with no significant differences. The specific surface area of zeolite X (Na) at 60, 70 and 90 °C was 64 m²/g, 67 m²/g and 113 m²/g, respectively. The pore size, specific surface area and pore volumes of zeolite X (Na) 80 °C and zeolite X (Na) 100 °C were dramatically increased to 4.21 nm, 295 m²/g, 0.762 cm³/g and 4.92 nm, 389 m²/g, 0.837 cm³/g, in that order. The analytical performance of adsorbed urease on zeolite X (Na) surface was also investigated using cyclic voltammetry measurements, and the results showed distinct cathodic and anodic peaks by zeolite X (Na) 80 °C and zeolite X (Na) 100 °C. These zeolites’ molar conductance was measured as a function of urea concentration and gave an average polynomial regression fit of 0.948. The findings in this study suggest that certain physicochemical properties, such as crystallization temperature and pH, are critical parameters for improving the morphological properties of zeolites synthesized from natural sources for various biomedical applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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2076 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adenosine Triphosphate-Encapsulated Liposomes with Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering-Based Immunoassays

by Xuan-Hung Pham, Eunil Hahm, Tae Han Kim, Hyung-Mo Kim, Sang Hun Lee, Yoon-Sik Lee, Dae Hong Jeong and Bong-Hyun Jun

Sensors 2017, 17(7), 1480; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17071480 - 23 Jun 2017

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6876

Abstract

In this study, we prepared adenosine triphosphate (ATP) encapsulated liposomes, and assessed their applicability for the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based assays with gold-silver alloy (Au@Ag)-assembled silica nanoparticles (NPs; SiO₂@Au@Ag). The liposomes were prepared by the thin film hydration method from a mixture of l-α-phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and PE-PEG2000 in chloroform; evaporating the solvent, followed by hydration of the resulting thin film with ATP in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Upon lysis of the liposome, the SERS intensity of the SiO₂@Au@Ag NPs increased with the logarithm of number of ATP-encapsulated liposomes after lysis in the range of 8 × 10⁶ to 8 × 10¹⁰. The detection limit of liposome was calculated to be 1.3 × 10⁻¹⁷ mol. The successful application of ATP-encapsulated liposomes to SiO₂@Au@Ag NPs based SERS analysis has opened a new avenue for Raman label chemical (RCL)-encapsulated liposome-enhanced SERS-based immunoassays. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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Review

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32 pages, 29867 KiB

Open AccessReview

Biosensing Based on Nanoparticles for Food Allergens Detection

by Lidia Nazaret Gómez-Arribas, Elena Benito-Peña, María Del Carmen Hurtado-Sánchez and María Cruz Moreno-Bondi

Sensors 2018, 18(4), 1087; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18041087 - 04 Apr 2018

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 8236

Abstract

Food allergy is one of the major health threats for sensitized individuals all over the world and, over the years, the food industry has made significant efforts and investments to offer safe foods for allergic consumers. The analysis of the concentration of food allergen residues in processing equipment, in raw materials or in the final product, provides analytical information that can be used for risk assessment as well as to ensure that food-allergic consumers get accurate and useful information to make their food choices and purchasing decisions. The development of biosensors based on nanomaterials for applications in food analysis is a challenging area of growing interest in the last years. Research in this field requires the combined efforts of experts in very different areas including food chemistry, biotechnology or materials science. However, the outcome of such collaboration can be of significant impact on the food industry as well as for consumer’s safety. These nanobiosensing devices allow the rapid, selective, sensitive, cost-effective and, in some cases, in-field, online and real-time detection of a wide range of compounds, even in complex matrices. Moreover, they can also enable the design of novel allergen detection strategies. Herein we review the main advances in the use of nanoparticles for the development of biosensors and bioassays for allergen detection, in food samples, over the past few years. Research in this area is still in its infancy in comparison, for instance, to the application of nanobiosensors for clinical analysis. However, it will be of interest for the development of new technologies that reduce the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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32 pages, 1578 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Nanomaterial-Based Sensing and Biosensing of Phenolic Compounds and Related Antioxidant Capacity in Food

by Flavio Della Pelle and Dario Compagnone

Sensors 2018, 18(2), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18020462 - 04 Feb 2018

Cited by 119 | Viewed by 8754

Abstract

Polyphenolic compounds (PCs) have received exceptional attention at the end of the past millennium and as much at the beginning of the new one. Undoubtedly, these compounds in foodstuffs provide added value for their well-known health benefits, for their technological role and also marketing. Many efforts have been made to provide simple, effective and user friendly analytical methods for the determination and antioxidant capacity (AOC) evaluation of food polyphenols. In a parallel track, over the last twenty years, nanomaterials (NMs) have made their entry in the analytical chemistry domain; NMs have, in fact, opened new paths for the development of analytical methods with the common aim to improve analytical performance and sustainability, becoming new tools in quality assurance of food and beverages. The aim of this review is to provide information on the most recent developments of new NMs-based tools and strategies for total polyphenols (TP) determination and AOC evaluation in food. In this review optical, electrochemical and bioelectrochemical approaches have been reviewed. The use of nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanomaterials and hybrid materials for the detection of polyphenols is the main subject of the works reported. However, particular attention has been paid to the success of the application in real samples, in addition to the NMs. In particular, the discussion has been focused on methods/devices presenting, in the opinion of the authors, clear advancement in the fields, in terms of simplicity, rapidity and usability. This review aims to demonstrate how the NM-based approaches represent valid alternatives to classical methods for polyphenols analysis, and are mature to be integrated for the rapid quality assessment of food quality in lab or directly in the field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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15 pages, 1563 KiB

Open AccessReview

Lipid Membrane Nanosensors for Environmental Monitoring: The Art, the Opportunities, and the Challenges

by Georgia-Paraskevi Nikoleli, Dimitrios Nikolelis, Christina G. Siontorou and Stephanos Karapetis

Sensors 2018, 18(1), 284; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010284 - 18 Jan 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6113

Abstract

The advent of nanotechnology has brought along new materials, techniques, and concepts, readily adaptable to lipid membrane-based biosensing. The transition from micro-sensors to nano-sensors is neither straightforward nor effortless, yet it leads to devices with superior analytical characteristics: ultra-low detectability, small sample volumes, better capabilities for integration, and more available bioelements and processes. Environmental monitoring remains a complicated field dealing with a large variety of pollutants, several decomposition products, or secondary chemicals produced ad hoc in the short- or medium term, many sub-systems affected variously, and many processes largely unknown. The new generation of lipid membranes, i.e., nanosensors, has the potential for developing monitors with site-specific analytical performance and operational stability, as well as analyte-tailored types of responses. This review presents the state-of-the art, the opportunities for niche applicability, and the challenges that lie ahead. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches to Biosensing with Nanoparticles)

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