Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) as tool to exploit antigen–antibody interactions in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomadetection

Recent advances in acoustic wave biosensors for the detection of disease-related biomarkers: A review

In the past several decades, acoustic wave biosensors, as an emerging kind of biosensors, have been developed and widely used for the detection of mass, viscosity, conductivity and density. Varieties of applications have been explored such as medical diagnosis, drug screening, environmental monitoring, food analysis and biochemical assay. Among them, the detection of disease-related biomarkers based on acoustic sensors has aroused great research interest all over the world. In this review, the classification and characteristics of acoustic wave biosensors are briefly introduced. Then, some classical studies and recent advances in disease-related biomarker detection utilizing these biosensors are summarized and detailed, respectively. Here, the disease-related biomarkers mainly include antigens, small molecular proteins, cancer cells, viruses and VOCs. Finally, challenges and future trends of these typical acoustic wave biosensors are discussed. Compared with other reviews of acoustic wave sensors, this review highlights the great potential of typical acoustic wave biosensors for early disease screening and diagnosis compared with widely-used medical imaging. Moreover, they are integrated with other technologies for the design of multi-analyte, multi-parameter and intelligent devices, collecting more comprehensive information from biomarkers. This review provides a new perspective on the applications and optimization of acoustic wave biosensors to develop more reliable platforms for disease-related biomarker detection and disease diagnosis.

The application of DNA polymerases and Cas9 as representative of DNA-modifying enzymes group in DNA sensor design (review)

Rapid detection of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) by inexpensive, selective, accurate, and highly sensitive methods is very important for biosensors. DNA-sensors based on DNA-modifying enzymes for fast determination and monitoring of pathogenic (Zika, Dengue, SARS-Cov-2 (inducer of COVID-19), human papillomavirus, HIV, etc.) viruses and diagnosis of virus-induced diseases is a key factor of this overview. Recently, DNA-modifying enzymes (Taq DNA polymerase, Phi29 DNA polymerase) have been widely used for the diagnosis of virus or pathogenic disease by gold standard (PCR, qPCR, RT-qPCR) methods, therefore, alternative methods have been reviewed. The main mechanisms of DNA metabolism (replication cycle, amplification) and the genomeediting tool CRISPR-Cas9 are purposefully discussed in order to address strategic possibility to design DNA-sensors based on immobilized DNA-enzymes. However, the immobilization of biologically active proteins on a gold carrier technique with the ability to detect viral or bacterial nucleic acids is individual for each DNA-modifying enzyme group, due to a different number of active sites, C and N terminal locations and arrangement, therefore, individual protocols based on the 'masking' of active sites should be elaborated for each enzyme.

Quartz crystal microbalance-based biosensors as rapid diagnostic devices for infectious diseases

Infectious diseases are the ever-present threats to public health and the global economy. Accurate and timely diagnosis is crucial to impede the progression of a disease and break the chain of transmission. Conventional diagnostic techniques are typically time-consuming and costly, making them inefficient for early diagnosis of infections and inconvenient for use at the point of care. Developments of sensitive, rapid, and affordable diagnostic methods are necessary to improve the clinical management of infectious diseases. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) systems have emerged as a robust biosensing platform due to their label-free mechanism, which allows the detection and quantification of a wide range of biomolecules. The high sensitivity and short detection time offered by QCM-based biosensors are attractive for the early detection of infections and the routine monitoring of disease progression. Herein, the strategies employed in QCM-based biosensors for the detection of infectious diseases are extensively reviewed, with a focus on prevalent diseases for which improved diagnostic techniques are in high demand. The challenges to the clinical application of QCM-based biosensors are highlighted, along with an outline of the future scope of research in QCM-based diagnostics.

Lab-on-Chip for Exosomes and Microvesicles Detection and Characterization

Interest in extracellular vesicles and in particular microvesicles and exosomes, which are constitutively produced by cells, is on the rise for their huge potential as biomarkers in a high number of disorders and pathologies as they are considered as carriers of information among cells, as well as being responsible for the spreading of diseases. Current methods of analysis of microvesicles and exosomes do not fulfill the requirements for their in-depth investigation and the complete exploitation of their diagnostic and prognostic value. Lab-on-chip methods have the potential and capabilities to bridge this gap and the technology is mature enough to provide all the necessary steps for a completely automated analysis of extracellular vesicles in body fluids. In this paper we provide an overview of the biological role of extracellular vesicles, standard biochemical methods of analysis and their limits, and a survey of lab-on-chip methods that are able to meet the needs of a deeper exploitation of these biological entities to drive their use in common clinical practice.

An SPR based immunoassay for the sensitive detection of the soluble epithelial marker E-cadherin

Protein biomarkers are important diagnostic tools for cancer and several other diseases. To be validated in a clinical context, a biomarker should satisfy some requirements including the ability to provide reliable information on a pathological state by measuring its expression levels. In parallel, the development of an approach capable of detecting biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity would be ideally suited for clinical applications. Here, we performed an immune-based label free assay using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based detection of the soluble form of E-cadherin, a cell-cell contact protein that is involved in the maintaining of tissue integrity. With this approach, we obtained a specific and quantitative detection of E-cadherin from a few hundred microliters of serum of breast cancer patients by obtaining a 10-fold enhancement in the detection limit over a traditional colorimetric ELISA.

Quartz Crystal Microbalance as Cell-Based Biosensor to Detect and Study Cytoskeletal Alterations and Dynamics

Several techniques can be used to monitor cell dynamism after a perturbation. Among these, Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D) offers the great advantage to study the mechanical properties of cells in real-time and with a great sensitivity. Here, we used QCM-D to investigate the effects of two cytoskeleton-targeting agents, cytochalasin D (CytoD) and Y27632, on human MCF-7 cells. Cell adhesion on the sensor surface, crucial for in-flow experiments, was obtained by covalent adsorption of a fibronectin (FN) film, an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein. Direct analysis of MCF-7 cells on FN-coated sensor, shows a specific cellular response that was revealed and quantified by QCM-D after drugs exposure. Notably, upon treatment with Y27632, we observed a two-regime dissipation behavior that we associated with specific modifications of actin filaments and signaling proteins providing a link between biophysical and molecular mechanisms. Overall, this approach opens new opportunities for studying cellular response to mechanical cues in different biological conditions.

A sensitivity metric and software to guide the analysis of soft films measured by a quartz crystal microbalance

The TPM-sensitivity metric guides the analysis of viscoelastic thin films studied with a quartz crystal microbalance.

Quartz-Crystal Microbalance (QCM) for Public Health: An Overview of Its Applications

Nanobiotechnologies, from the convergence of nanotechnology and molecular biology and postgenomics medicine, play a major role in the field of public health. This overview summarizes the potentiality of piezoelectric sensors, and in particular, of quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM), a physical nanogram-sensitive device. QCM enables the rapid, real time, on-site detection of pathogens with an enormous burden in public health, such as influenza and other respiratory viruses, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and drug-resistant bacteria, among others. Further, it allows to detect food allergens, food-borne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, and food chemical contaminants, as well as water-borne microorganisms and environmental contaminants. Moreover, QCM holds promises in early cancer detection and screening of new antiblastic drugs. Applications for monitoring biohazards, for assuring homeland security, and preventing bioterrorism are also discussed.

Phosphorylated alpha-enolase induces autoantibodies in HLA-DR8 pancreatic cancer patients and triggers HLA-DR8 restricted T-cell activation

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth cause of cancer-induced death in the Western World. In PDAC patients, alpha-enolase (ENOA), a glycolytic enzyme that also acts as plasminogen receptor, is up-regulated and elicits the production of autoantibodies. Our previous studies revealed that most PDAC patients specifically produce antibodies to Serine(419)phosphorylated ENOA (Ser(419)P-ENOA) isoforms (ENOA1,2), and that this humoral response correlates with a better clinical outcome. Since autoantibody production can be influenced by HLA polymorphisms, and the ENOA sequence presents multiple peptides predicted to preferentially bind HLA-DR molecules, including the peptide containing Ser(419), we hypothesized that the presence of autoantibodies against ENOA1,2 is associated with specific HLA-DRB1 alleles. Here, we demonstrate that the HLA-DRB1*08 allele is significantly more frequent in PDAC patients with autoantibodies to ENOA1,2 (ENOA1,2(+), 8%) compared to healthy controls (3%, p=0.0112). We observed that a Ser(419)P-ENOA peptide, bioinformatically predicted to bind with high affinity to the HLA-DR8 allele coded by HLA-DRB1*08:01 or *08:04 alleles, was able to activate specific CD4(+) T cell clones derived from a HLA-DRB1*08:01. Thus complexes of the Ser(419)P-ENOA peptide with the HLA that trigger T-cell signaling might be relevant for induction of anti-tumor immune response.

Nanotechnologies in protein microarrays

Protein microarray technology became an important research tool for study and detection of proteins, protein-protein interactions and a number of other applications. The utilization of nanoparticle-based materials and nanotechnology-based techniques for immobilization allows us not only to extend the surface for biomolecule immobilization resulting in enhanced substrate binding properties, decreased background signals and enhanced reporter systems for more sensitive assays. Generally in contemporarily developed microarray systems, multiple nanotechnology-based techniques are combined. In this review, applications of nanoparticles and nanotechnologies in creating protein microarrays, proteins immobilization and detection are summarized. We anticipate that advanced nanotechnologies can be exploited to expand promising fields of proteins identification, monitoring of protein-protein or drug-protein interactions, or proteins structures.

Curcumin induces structural change and reduces the growth of amyloid-β fibrils: a QCM-D study

Curcumin inhibited Aβ fibril growth through leading to the structural conversion of the growing fibril to a more loosely constructed aggregate.

New approach to a practical quartz crystal microbalance sensor utilizing an inkjet printing system

The present work demonstrates a valuable approach to developing quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor units inexpensively for reliable determination of analytes. This QCM sensor unit is constructed by inkjet printing equipment utilizing background noise removal techniques. Inkjet printing equipment was chosen as an alternative to an injection pump in conventional flow-mode systems to facilitate the commercial applicability of these practical devices. The results demonstrate minimization of fluctuations from external influences, determination of antigen-antibody interactions in an inkjet deposition, and quantification of C-reactive protein in the range of 50–1000 ng(x000B7)mL⁻¹. We thus demonstrate a marketable application of an inexpensive and easily available QCM sensor system.