Label-free detection of 3-nitro-l-tyrosine with nickel-doped graphene localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor

SERS-based microdevices for use as in vitro diagnostic biosensors

Advances in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection have helped to overcome the limitations of traditional in vitro diagnostic methods, such as fluorescence and chemiluminescence, owing to its high sensitivity and multiplex detection capability. However, for the implementation of SERS detection technology in disease diagnosis, a SERS-based assay platform capable of analyzing clinical samples is essential. Moreover, infectious diseases like COVID-19 require the development of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic technologies that can rapidly and accurately determine infection status. As an effective assay platform, SERS-based bioassays utilize SERS nanotags labeled with protein or DNA receptors on Au or Ag nanoparticles, serving as highly sensitive optical probes. Additionally, a microdevice is necessary as an interface between the target biomolecules and SERS nanotags. This review aims to introduce various microdevices developed for SERS detection, available for POC diagnostics, including LFA strips, microfluidic chips, and microarray chips. Furthermore, the article presents research findings reported in the last 20 years for the SERS-based bioassay of various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases. Finally, the prospects of SERS bioassays are discussed concerning the integration of SERS-based microdevices and portable Raman readers into POC systems, along with the utilization of artificial intelligence technology.

Degradation of Graphene in High- and Low-Humidity Air, and Vacuum Conditions at 300-500 K

Graphene is a fundamental unit of carbon materials and, thus, primary sp2-bonded carbon material. Graphene is, however, easily broken macroscopically despite high mechanical strength, although its natural degradation has rarely been considered. In this work, we evaluate the natural degradation of two-layer graphene in vacuo, in low-humidity air, and in high-humidity air at 300, 400, 450, and 500 K. Over 1000 days of degradation at 300 K, the graphene structure was highly maintained in vacuo, whereas the layer number of graphene tended to decrease in high- and low-humidity air. Water was slightly reacted/chemisorbed on graphene to form surface oxygen groups at 300 K. At 450 and 500 K, graphene was moderately volatilized in vacuo and was obviously oxidized in high- and low-humidity air. Surprisingly, the oxidation of graphene was more suppressed in the high-humidity air than in the low-humidity air, indicating that water worked as an anti-oxidizer of graphene by preventing the chemisorption of oxygen on the graphene surface.

Recent advances in aptamer-based platforms for cortisol hormone monitoring

The stressful conditions of today-life make it urgent the timely prevention and treatment of many physiological and psychological disorders related to stress. According to the significant progress made in the near future, rapid, accurate, and on-spot measurement of cortisol hormone as a dominant stress biomarker using miniaturized digital devices is not far from expected. With a special potency in the fields of diagnosis and healthcare monitoring, aptamer-mediated biosensors (aptasensors) are promising for the quantitative monitoring of cortisol levels in the different matrices (sweat, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, blood serum, etc.). Accordingly, this in-depth study reviews the superior achievements in the aptasensing strategies to detect cortisol hormone with the synergism of diverse two/three dimensional nanostructured materials, enzymatic amplification components, and antibody motifs. The represented discussions offer a universal perspective to achieve lab-on-chip aptasensing arrays as future user-friendly skin-patchable electronic gadgets for on-site and real-time quantification of cortisol levels.

Label-free optical biosensing: going beyond the limits

Label-free optical biosensing holds great promise for a variety of applications in biomedical diagnostics, environmental and food safety, and security. It is already used as a key tool in the investigation of biomolecular binding events and reaction constants in real time and offers further potential additional functionalities and low-cost designs. However, the sensitivity of this technology does not match the routinely used but expensive and slow labelling methods. Therefore, label-free optical biosensing remains predominantly a research tool. Here we discuss how one can go beyond the limits of detection provided by standard optical biosensing platforms and achieve a sensitivity of label-free biosensing that is superior to labelling methods. To this end we review newly emerging optical implementations that overcome current sensitivity barriers by employing novel structural architectures, artificial materials (metamaterials and hetero-metastructures) and using phase of light as a sensing parameter. Furthermore, we elucidate the mechanism of plasmonic phase biosensing and review hyper-sensitive transducers, which can achieve detection limits at the single molecule level (less than 1 fg mm-2) and make it possible to detect analytes at several orders of magnitude lower concentrations than so far reported in literature. We finally discuss newly emerging layouts based on dielectric nanomaterials, bound states in continuum, and exceptional points.

In Situ Synthesis of a Bismuth Vanadate/Molybdenum Disulfide Composite: An Electrochemical Tool for 3-Nitro-l-Tyrosine Analysis

The quantification of 3-nitro-l-tyrosine (NO₂-Tyr), an in vivo biomarker of nitrosative stress, is indispensable for the clinical intervention of various inflammatory disorders caused by nitrosative stress. By integrating the unique features of BiVO₄ and MoS₂ with matching bandgap energies, electrode materials with amplified response signals can be developed. In this regard, we introduce a hydrothermally synthesized bismuth vanadate sheathed molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂@BiVO₄) heterojunction as a highly sensitive electrode material for the determination of NO₂-Tyr. Excellent electrochemical behavior perceived for the MoS₂@BiVO₄ augments the performance of the sensor and allows the measurement of NO₂-Tyr in biological media without any time-consuming pretreatments. The synergistic interactions between BiVO₄ and MoS₂ heterojunctions contribute to low resistance charge transfer (R_ct = 159.13 Ω·cm²), a reduction potential E_pc = -0.58 V (vs Ag/AgCl), and a good response range (0.001-526.3 μM) with a lower limit of detection (0.94 nM) toward the detection of NO₂-Tyr. An improved active surface area, reduced charge recombination, and high analyte adsorption contribute to the high loading of the biomarker for improved selectivity (in the presence of 10 interfering compounds), operational stability (1000 s), and reproducibility (six various modified electrodes). The proposed sensor was successfully utilized for the real-time determination of NO₂-Tyr in water, urine, and saliva samples with good recovery values (±98.94-99.98%), ascertaining the reliability of the method. It is noteworthy that the electrochemical activity remains unaffected by other redox interferons, thus leading to targeted sensing applications.

Tracking structural changes of protein residues by two-dimensional correlation surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In-situ tracking structural changes of protein residues was developed by two-dimensional correlation surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (2DC-SERS). The change order of SERS fingerprints during artificial nitrification of edible bird's nest (EBN) was interpreted as the structural changes of amino acid residues. It inherently realizes reliable recognition of natural EBN and artificially dyed fakes. Both this direct structural tracking of protein residues and the indirect azo dye testing of nitrites/nitrosamines could be used as indicators for discriminating different EBN before and after the artificial dyeing. Limit of detection (LOD) for nitrite and NDMA is about 40.6 ppb and 88.1 ppb, respectively. A conceptual logical circuit of the OR gate was constructed by considering the protein structural indicator (INPUT1) and the nitrite indicator (INPUT2) as two independent inputs for automatic recognition of different EBN samples. A data-driven analog soft independent modeling (DD-SIMCA) model could quickly distinguish normal EBN from A-EBN with 98% specificity.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Diagnostics: Accessing Analytes in Biofluids

Bio-applied molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are biomimetic materials with tailor-made synthetic recognition sites, mimicking biological counterparts known for their sensitive and selective analyte detection. MIPs, specifically designed for biomarker analysis...

Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Medical Diagnosis Applications: A Review

Plasmonic metasurfaces have been widely used in biosensing to improve the interaction between light and biomolecules through the effects of near-field confinement. When paired with biofunctionalization, plasmonic metasurface sensing is considered as a viable strategy for improving biomarker detection technologies. In this review, we enumerate the fundamental mechanism of plasmonic metasurfaces sensing and present their detection in human tumors and COVID-19. The advantages of rapid sampling, streamlined processes, high sensitivity, and easy accessibility are highlighted compared with traditional detection techniques. This review is looking forward to assisting scientists in advancing research and developing a new generation of multifunctional biosensors.

Graphene and graphene oxide for bio-sensing: General properties and the effects of graphene ripples

The use of Graphene based materials, such as graphene oxide (GO), in biosensing applications is gaining significant interest, due to high signal output, with strong potential for high industrial growth rate. Graphene's excellent conduction and mechanical properties (such as toughness and elasticity) coupled with high reactivity to chemical molecules are some of its appealing properties. The presence of ripples on the surface (whether indigenous or induced) represents another property/variable that provide enormous potential if harnessed properly. In this article, we review the current knowledge regarding the use of graphene for biosensing. We discuss briefly the general topic of using graphene for biosensing applications with special emphasis on wearable graphene-based biosensors. The intrinsic ripples of graphene and their effect on graphene biosensing capabilities are thoroughly discussed. We dedicate a section also for the manipulation of intrinsic ripples. Then we review the use of Graphene oxide (GO) in biosensing and discuss the effect of ripples on its properties. We present a review of the current biosensor devices made out of GO for detection of different molecular targets. Finally, we present some thoughts for future perspectives and opportunities of this field. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Biosensors are tools that detect the presence and amount of a chemical substance, such as pregnancy tests and glucose monitoring devices. They are general portable, have short response times and are sensitive, making them highly effective. Gold and silver are used in biosensors and more recently, graphene.  Graphene is sheets of carbon atoms and is the only two-dimensional crystal in nature. It has unique features allowing its effective use in biosensing applications, including the presence of ripples (non-flat areas that give it its electronic properties). The last comprehensive review of this topic was published in 2016. This paper reviews the current knowledge of graphene based biosensors, with a focus on ripples and their effect on graphene biosensing capabilities.

Surface Plasmonic Sensors: Sensing Mechanism and Recent Applications

Surface plasmonic sensors have been widely used in biology, chemistry, and environment monitoring. These sensors exhibit extraordinary sensitivity based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects, and they have found commercial applications. In this review, we present recent progress in the field of surface plasmonic sensors, mainly in the configurations of planar metastructures and optical-fiber waveguides. In the metastructure platform, the optical sensors based on LSPR, hyperbolic dispersion, Fano resonance, and two-dimensional (2D) materials integration are introduced. The optical-fiber sensors integrated with LSPR/SPR structures and 2D materials are summarized. We also introduce the recent advances in quantum plasmonic sensing beyond the classical shot noise limit. The challenges and opportunities in this field are discussed.

Fabrication of a Sensitive and Stable NiO Uric Acid Biosensor Using Ag Nanowires and Reduced Graphene Oxide

How to detect uric acid is an important issue. For the purpose of preparing a potentiometric uric acid biosensor, this research used nickel oxide (NiO) as the sensing film to deposit it onto the substrate by radio frequency sputtering, then modified it with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and silver (Ag) nanowires. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) not only has excellent electrical conductivity, but also can make the surface of the film have a larger surface area, while AgNWs have also been proven to improve catalytic activity; hence, these two materials were chosen as sensor modifiers. Finally, the stability and the various characteristics of the uric acid biosensor were investigated using a voltage–time (V–T) system. The results showed that the AgNW–uricase/rGO/NiO uric acid biosensor has average sensitivity with 4.66 mV/(mg/L). In addition, the sensor has good stability.

A chemiluminescence probe enhanced by cobalt and nitrogen-doped carbon dots for the determination of a nitrosative stress biomarker

A chemiluminometric method is introduced for the determination of the stress biomarker, 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) based on the H₂O₂-NaIO₄ reaction enhanced by cobalt and nitrogen-doped carbon dots (Co,N-CDs). In this chemiluminescence (CL) system, the emission proved to be originated from the excited-state Co,N-CDs (λ_max = 504 nm). Comparing the effect of Co,N-CDs with that of some other metal ion-doped CDs and undoped CDs indicated the high efficiency of Co,N-CDs in the CL amplification (about 1980-fold). This was attributed to the fact that Co,N-CDs, in addition to other functions, could act as catalytic center, to accelerate the decomposition of H₂O₂ and to increase the number of hydroxyl radicals. It was found that 3-NT inhibits the action of Co,N-CDs by an electron transfer process, leading to a decline in the CL intensity of the system. Therefore, a new CL sensing platform was introduced for the assay of 3-NT in the range 5.0 to 300 nM with a detection limit of 1.5 nM. The probe was utilized for the analysis of biological samples.

Protein oxidation - Formation mechanisms, detection and relevance as biomarkers in human diseases

Generation of reactive oxygen species and related oxidants is an inevitable consequence of life. Proteins are major targets for oxidation reactions, because of their rapid reaction rates with oxidants and their high abundance in cells, extracellular tissues, and body fluids. Additionally, oxidative stress is able to degrade lipids and carbohydrates to highly reactive intermediates, which eventually attack proteins at various functional sites. Consequently, a wide variety of distinct posttranslational protein modifications is formed by protein oxidation, glycoxidation, and lipoxidation. Reversible modifications are relevant in physiological processes and constitute signaling mechanisms ("redox signaling"), while non-reversible modifications may contribute to pathological situations and several diseases. A rising number of publications provide evidence for their involvement in the onset and progression of diseases as well as aging processes. Certain protein oxidation products are chemically stable and formed in large quantity, which makes them promising candidates to become biomarkers of oxidative damage. Moreover, progress in the development of detection and quantification methods facilitates analysis time and effort and contributes to their future applicability in clinical routine. The present review outlines the most important classes and selected examples of oxidative protein modifications, elucidates the chemistry beyond their formation and discusses available methods for detection and analysis. Furthermore, the relevance and potential of protein modifications as biomarkers in the context of disease and aging is summarized.

Biosensing Applications Using Nanostructure-Based Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-based biosensors have recently garnered increasing attention due to their potential to allow label-free, portable, low-cost, and real-time monitoring of diverse analytes. Recent developments in this technology have focused on biochemical markers in clinical and environmental settings coupled with advances in nanostructure technology. Therefore, this review focuses on the recent advances in LSPR-based biosensor technology for the detection of diverse chemicals and biomolecules. Moreover, we also provide recent examples of sensing strategies based on diverse nanostructure platforms, in addition to their advantages and limitations. Finally, this review discusses potential strategies for the development of biosensors with enhanced sensing performance.

Recent advances in graphene-based nanobiosensors for salivary biomarker detection

As biosensing research is rapidly advancing due to significant developments in materials, chemistry, and electronics, researchers strive to build cutting-edge biomedical devices capable of detecting health-monitoring biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity. Biosensors using nanomaterials are highly promising because of the wide detection range, fast response time, system miniaturization, and enhanced sensitivity. In the recent development of biosensors and electronics, graphene has rapidly gained popularity due to its superior electrical, biochemical, and mechanical properties. For biomarker detection, human saliva offers easy access with a large variety of analytes, making it a promising candidate for its use in point-of-care (POC) devices. Here, we report a comprehensive review that summarizes the most recent graphene-based nanobiosensors and oral bioelectronics for salivary biomarker detection. We discuss the details of structural designs of graphene electronics, use cases of salivary biomarkers, the performance of existing sensors, and applications in health monitoring. This review also describes current challenges in materials and systems and future directions of the graphene bioelectronics for clinical POC applications. Collectively, the main contribution of this paper is to deliver an extensive review of the graphene-enabled biosensors and oral electronics and their successful applications in human salivary biomarker detection.

Au nanoparticles as label-free competitive reporters for sensitivity enhanced fiber-optic SPR heparin sensor

A label-free Au NPs-enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor was developed for the ultrasensitive detection of heparin based on competitive adsorption behavior of heparin and Au NPs on the poly (dimethyl-diallylammonium chloride) (PDDA)-modified optical fiber surface and the corresponding change in the resonance wavelength of SPR. Due to the high affinity between heparin and PDDA, the present senor shows good analytical performance with respect to heparin detection. Two obvious advantages of the proposed heparin sensor over other reported methods are: its much wider linear concentration range (10^-6-10^-10 g/mL) and lower limit of detection (0.0257 ng/mL). The analysis of heparin in serum demonstrated that the present sensor exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity. It should be noted that the sensing strategy takes advantage of a portable fiber-optic SPR sensing system and avoids the need for complex processes for labeled-Au NPs, and thus the present sensor promises to be a practical tool for the point-of-care monitoring of heparin.

Graphene-Based Biosensors for Detection of Biomarkers

The development of biosensors with high sensitivity and low-detection limits provides a new direction for medical and personal care. Graphene and graphene derivatives have been used to prepare various types of biosensors due to their excellent sensing performance (e.g., high specific surface area, extraordinary electronic properties, electron transport capabilities and ultrahigh flexibility). This perspective review focuses on graphene-based biosensors for quantitative detection of cancer-related biomarkers such as DNA, miRNA, small molecules and proteins by integrating with different signal outputting approaches including fluorescent, electrochemistry, surface plasmon resonance, surface enhanced Raman scattering, etc. The article also discussed their challenges and potential solutions along with future prospects.

Graphene-based nanocomposites for sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance sensor for biological and chemical sensing: A review

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) offers exceptional advantages such as label-free, in-situ and real-time measurement ability that facilitates the study of molecular or chemical binding events. Besides, SPR lacks in the detection of various binding events, particularly involving low molecular weight molecules. This drawback ultimately resulted in the development of several sensitivity enhancement methodologies and their application in the various area. Among graphene materials, graphene-based nanocomposites stands out owing to its significant properties such as strong adsorption of molecules, signal amplification by optical, high carrier mobility, electronic bridging, ease of fabrication and therefore, have established as an important sensitivity enhancement substrate for SPR. Also, graphene-based nanocomposites could amplify the signal generated by plasmon material and increase the sensitivity of molecular detection up to femto to atto molar level. This review focuses on the current important developments made in the potential research avenue of SPR and fiber optics based SPR for chemical and biological sensing. Latest trends and challenges in engineering and applications of graphene-based nanocomposites enhanced sensors for detecting minute and low concentration biological and chemical analytes are reviewed comprehensively. This review may aid in futuristic designing approaches and application of grapheneous sensor platforms for sensitive plasmonic nano-sensors.

Label-free detection of live cancer cells and DNA hybridization using 3D multilayered plasmonic biosensor

Three-dimensional (3D) multilayered plasmonic nanostructures consisting of Au nanosquares on top of SU-8 nanopillars, Au asymmetrical nanostructures in the middle, and Au asymmetrical nanoholes at the bottom were fabricated through reversal nanoimprint technology. Compared with two-dimensional and quasi-3D plasmonic nanostructures, the 3D multilayered plasmonic nanostructures showed higher electromagnetic field intensity, longer plasmon decay length and larger plasmon sensing area, which are desirable for highly sensitive localized surface plasmonic resonance biosensors. The sensitivity and resonance peak wavelength of the 3D multilayered plasmonic nanostructures could be adjusted by varying the offset between the top and bottom SU-8 nanopillars from 31% to 56%, and the highest sensitivity of 382 and 442 nm/refractive index unit were observed for resonance peaks at 581 and 805 nm, respectively. Live lung cancer A549 cells with a low concentration of 5 × 10³ cells ml^-1 and a low sample volume of 2 μl could be detected by the 3D multilayered plasmonic nanostructures integrated in a microfluidic system. The 3D plasmonic biosensors also had the advantages of detecting DNA hybridization by capturing the complementary target DNA in the low concentration range of 10^-14-10^-7 M, and providing a large peak shift of 82 nm for capturing 10^-7 M complementary target DNA without additional signal amplification.

An aptamer nanopore-enabled microsensor for detection of theophylline

This paper reports an aptamer-based nanopore thin film sensor for detecting theophylline in the buffer solution and complex fluids including plant extracts and serum samples. Compared to antibody-based detection, aptamer-based detection offers many advantages such as low cost and high stability at elevated temperatures. Experiments found that this type of sensor can readily detect theophylline at a concentration as low as 0.05µM, which is much lower than the detection limit of current lab-based equipment such as liquid chromatography (LC). Experiments also found that the aptamer-based sensor has good specificity, selectivity, and reasonable reusability with a significantly improved dynamic detection range. By using the same nanopore thin film sensors as the reference sensors to further mitigate the non-specific binding effect, the theophylline in plant extracts and serum has been detected. Only a small amount (~1μL) of plant extracts or serum samples is required to measure theophylline. Its low cost and ease-of-operation make this type of sensor suitable for point-of-care application to monitor the theophylline level of patients in real time.

Graphene-Based Materials for Biosensors: A Review

The advantages conferred by the physical, optical and electrochemical properties of graphene-based nanomaterials have contributed to the current variety of ultrasensitive and selective biosensor devices. In this review, we present the points of view on the intrinsic properties of graphene and its surface engineering concerned with the transduction mechanisms in biosensing applications. We explain practical synthesis techniques along with prospective properties of the graphene-based materials, which include the pristine graphene and functionalized graphene (i.e., graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and graphene quantum dot (GQD). The biosensing mechanisms based on the utilization of the charge interactions with biomolecules and/or nanoparticle interactions and sensing platforms are also discussed, and the importance of surface functionalization in recent up-to-date biosensors for biological and medical applications.

Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Noncanonical Guanine Nucleobases on Graphene

Self-assembly characterizes the fundamental basis toward realizing the formation of highly ordered hierarchical heterostructures. A systematic approach toward the supramolecular self-assembly of free-standing guanine nucleobases and the role of graphene as a substrate in directing the monolayer assembly are investigated using the molecular dynamics simulation. We find that the free-standing bases in gas phase aggregate into clusters dominated by intermolecular H-bonds, whereas in solvent, substantial screening of intermolecular interactions results in π-stacked configurations. Interestingly, graphene facilitates the monolayer assembly of the bases mediated through the base-substrate π-π stacking. The bases assemble in a highly compact network in gas phase, whereas in solvent, a high degree of immobilization is attributed to the disruption of intermolecular interactions. Graphene-induced stabilization/aggregation of free-standing guanine bases appears as one of the prerequisites governing molecular ordering and assembly at the solid/liquid interface. The results demonstrate an interplay between intermolecular and π-stacking interactions, central to the molecular recognition, aggregation dynamics, and patterned growth of functional molecules on two-dimensional nanomaterials.