Peptoids: Smart and Emerging Candidates for the Diagnosis of Cancer, Neurological and Autoimmune Disorders

Early detection of fatal and disabling diseases such as cancer, neurological and autoimmune dysfunctions is still desirable yet challenging to improve quality of life and longevity. Peptoids (N-substituted glycine oligomers) are a relatively new class of peptidomimetics, being highly versatile and capable of mimicking the architectures and the activities of the peptides but with a marked resistance to proteases and a propensity to cross the cellular membranes over the peptides themselves. For these properties, they have gained an ever greater interest in applications in bioengineering and biomedical fields. In particular, the present manuscript is to our knowledge the only review focused on peptoids for diagnostic applications and covers the last decade's literature regarding peptoids as tools for early diagnosis of pathologies with a great impact on human health and social behavior. The review indeed provides insights into the peptoid employment in targeted cancer imaging and blood-based screening of neurological and autoimmune diseases, and it aims to attract the scientific community's attention to continuing and sustaining the investigation of these peptidomimetics in the diagnosis field considering their promising peculiarities.

Biosensor approaches on the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases: Sensing the past to the future

Early diagnosis of neurodegeneration-oriented diseases that develop with the aging world is essential for improving the patient's living conditions as well as the treatment of the disease. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are prominent examples of neurodegeneration characterized by dementia leading to the death of nerve cells. The clinical diagnosis of these diseases only after the symptoms appear, delays the treatment process. Detection of biomarkers, which are distinctive molecules in biological fluids, involved in neurodegeneration processes, has the potential to allow early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on biosensors, whose main responsibility is to detect the target analyte with high specificity, has gained momentum in recent years with the aim of high detection of potential biomarkers of neurodegeneration process. This study aims to provide an overview of neuro-biosensors developed on the basis of biomarkers identified in biological fluids for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD), and to provide an overview of the urgent needs in this field, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis in the general lines of the neurodegeneration pathway. In this review, biosensor systems developed for the detection of biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases, especially in the last 5 years, are discussed.

AuNPs- Aβ-Ni-HRP sandwich assay: A new sensitive colorimetric method for the detection of Aβ 1-40

Amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) is a key predictor for preclinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular diseases. In this work, we propose a gold nanoparticle (AuNPs)-Aβ-nickel (Ni)-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) based colorimetric assay for the detection of Aβ_1-40. The consecutive binding of Aβ_1-40 to AuNPs and metal ions is designed and examined for Aβ-specific aggregation of AuNPs and the generation of quantitative colorimetric signals. The affinity of Aβ_1-40 towards various metal ions was studied first, and two metal ions, Cu and Ni, were specifically tested with Metal Ion-Binding Site Prediction (MIB) and High-resolution Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS). Subsequently, the binding of Aβ_1-40 and AuNPs was examined, and the binding between Aβ-AuNPs and Ni-HRP was finally analyzed by UV-Vis and nano-zetasizer. Based on the characterized dual binding of Aβ_1-40, a colorimetric sandwich assay was developed and the analytical performance of the developed assay has been evaluated with standard solutions and human serum samples. Good linearity within a range from 0 nM to 10 nM was found. The detection limits of 0.22 nM in the standard sample and 0.23 nM in the human serum sample have been demonstrated. The newly developed colorimetric sandwich assay is a short, simple, antibody-free assay and achieves high sensitivity with only 100 μL Aβ_1-40 samples. The assay has immense potential for the detection of Aβ_1-40 in biological or biomedical diagnosis.

Recent Advances in the Application Peptide and Peptoid in Diagnosis Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease in Blood

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases with irreversible damage of the brain and a continuous pathophysiological process. Early detection and accurate diagnosis are essential for the early intervention of AD. Precise detection of blood biomarkers related to AD could provide a shortcut to identifying early-stage patients before symptoms. In recent years, targeting peptides or peptoids have been chosen as recognition elements in nano-sensors or fluorescence detection to increase the targeting specificity, while peptide-based probes were also developed considering their specific advantages. Peptide-based sensors and probes have been developed according to different strategies, such as natural receptors, high-throughput screening, or artificial design for AD detection. This review will briefly summarize the recent developments and trends of AD diagnosis platforms based on peptide and peptoid as recognition elements and provide insights into the application of peptide and peptoid with different sources and characteristics in the diagnosis of AD biomarkers.

Peptoid Nanosheet-Based Sensing System for the Diagnosis and Surveillance of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive cognitive decline. Early diagnosis and dynamic monitoring are essential to the treatment and care of AD but challenging. Here we develop a noninvasive, blood-based AD detection method based on surface plasmonic resonance imaging (SPRi) technique. The functionalized sensing SPRi chips were constructed with self-assembled loop-displaying peptoid nanosheets to improve the detection sensitivity of plasma amyloid β42 (Aβ₄₂). We analyze the plasma from 30 clinically diagnosed AD patients, 29 amnestic cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, and 30 control individuals and demonstrate that this sensing system can significantly distinguish the three groups with high sensitivity and specificity. In the follow-up studies of the aMCI patients, we find that decrease in the binding signals in the patients correlates with the disease progression into AD whereas the almost unchanged signals correlate with stable disease remaining at aMCI status. These results show the capability of the peptoid-nanosheet-based SRPi sensing system for the early diagnosis and dynamic monitoring of AD.

Microfluidic Integrated Organic Electrochemical Transistor with a Nanoporous Membrane for Amyloid-β Detection

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with a severe loss in thinking, learning, and memory functions of the brain. To date, no specific treatment has been proven to cure AD, with the early diagnosis being vital for mitigating symptoms. A common pathological change found in AD-affected brains is the accumulation of a protein named amyloid-β (Aβ) into plaques. In this work, we developed a micron-scale organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) integrated with a microfluidic platform for the label-free detection of Aβ aggregates in human serum. The OECT channel-electrolyte interface was covered with a nanoporous membrane functionalized with Congo red (CR) molecules showing a strong affinity for Aβ aggregates. Each aggregate binding to the CR-membrane modulated the vertical ion flow toward the channel, changing the transistor characteristics. Thus, the device performance was not limited by the solution ionic strength nor did it rely on Faradaic reactions or conformational changes of bioreceptors. The high transconductance of the OECT, the precise porosity of the membrane, and the compactness endowed by the microfluidic enabled the Aβ aggregate detection over eight orders of magnitude wide concentration range (femtomolar-nanomolar) in 1 μL of human serum samples. We expanded the operation modes of our transistors using different channel materials and found that the accumulation-mode OECTs displayed the lowest power consumption and highest sensitivities. Ultimately, these robust, low-power, sensitive, and miniaturized microfluidic sensors helped to develop point-of-care tools for the early diagnosis of AD.

Dual-ligand supramolecular nanofibers inspired by the renin-angiotensin system for the targeting and synergistic therapy of myocardial infarction

Rationale: The compensatory activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) after myocardial infarction (MI) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Most existing studies on this subject focus on mono- or dual-therapy of blocking the RAS, which exhibit limited efficacy and often causes serious adverse reactions. Few studies have been conducted on targeted therapy based on the activated RAS post-MI. Thus, the development of multiple-functional nanomedicine with concurrent targeting ability and synergistic therapeutic effect against RAS may show great promise in improving cardiac function post-MI.

Methods: We utilized a cooperative self-assembly strategy constructing supramolecular nanofibers— telmisartan-doped co-assembly nanofibers (TDCNfs) to counter-regulate RAS through targeted delivery and combined therapy. TDCNfs were prepared through serial steps of solvent exchange, heating incubation, gelation, centrifugation, and lyophilization, in which the telmisartan was doped in the self-assembly process of Ang1-7 to obtain the co-assembly nanofibers wherein they act as both therapeutic agents and target-guide agents.

Results: TDCNfs exhibited the desired binding affinity to the two different receptors, AT1R and MasR. Through the dual ligand-receptor interactions to mediate the coincident downstream pathways, TDCNfs not only displayed favorably targeted properties to hypoxic cardiomyocytes, but also exerted synergistic therapeutic effects in apoptosis reduction, inflammatory response alleviation, and fibrosis inhibition in vitro and in vivo, significantly protecting cardiac function and mitigating post-MI adverse outcomes.

Conclusion: A dual-ligand nanoplatform was successfully developed to achieve targeted and synergistic therapy against cardiac deterioration post-MI. We envision that the integration of multiple therapeutic agents through supramolecular self-assembly would offer new insight for the systematic and targeted treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Paper-Based Platform with an In Situ Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for β-Amyloid

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common forms of dementia affecting millions of people worldwide. Currently, an easy and effective form of diagnosis is missing, which significantly hinders a possible improvement of the patient's quality of life. In this context, biosensors emerge as a future solution, opening the doors for preventive medicine and allowing the premature diagnosis of numerous pathologies. This work presents a pioneering biosensor that combines a bottom-up design approach using paper as a platform for the electrochemical recognition of peptide amyloid β-42 (Aβ-42), a biomarker for AD present in blood, associated with visible differences in the brain tissue and responsible for the formation of senile plaques. The sensor layer relies on a molecularly imprinted polymer as a biorecognition element, created on the carbon ink electrode's surface by electropolymerizing a mixture of the target analyte (Aβ-42) and a monomer (O-phenylenediamine) at neutral pH 7.2. Next, the template molecule was removed from the polymeric network by enzymatic and acidic treatments. The vacant sites so obtained preserved the shape of the imprinted protein and were able to rebind the target analyte. Morphological and chemical analyses were performed in order to control the surface modification of the materials. The analytical performance of the biosensor was evaluated by an electroanalytical technique, namely, square wave voltammetry. For this purpose, the analytical response of the biosensor was tested with standard solutions ranging from 0.1 ng/mL to 1 μg/mL of Aβ-42. The linear response of the biosensor went down to 0.1 ng/mL. Overall, the developed biosensor offered numerous benefits, such as simplicity, low cost, reproducibility, fast response, and repeatability less than 10%. All together, these features may have a strong impact in the early detection of AD.

A label-free biosensor based on graphene and reduced graphene oxide dual-layer for electrochemical determination of beta-amyloid biomarkers

A label-free biosensor is developed for the determination of plasma-based Aβ_1–42 biomarker in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The platform is based on highly conductive dual-layer of graphene and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The modification of dual-layer with 1-pyrenebutyric acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (Pyr-NHS) is achieved to facilitate immobilization of H31L21 antibody. The effect of these modifications were studied with morphological, spectral and electrochemical techniques. The response of the biosensor was evaluated using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The data was acquired at a working potential of ~ 180 mV and a scan rate of 50 mV s⁻¹. A low limit of detection (LOD) of 2.398 pM is achieved over a wide linear range from 11 pM to 55 nM. The biosensor exhibits excellent specificity over Aβ_1–40 and ApoE ε4 interfering species. Thus, it provides a viable tool for electrochemical determination of Aβ_1–42. Spiked human and mice plasmas were used for the successful validation of the sensing platform in bio-fluidic samples. The results obtained from mice plasma analysis concurred with the immunohistochemistry (IHC) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data obtained from brain analysis.

Graphical abstract

Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease by the Plasma and Serum Amyloid-beta 42 Assay through Highly Sensitive Peptoid Nanosheet Sensor

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder with a continuous pathophysiological process starting from the preclinical and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) phases to the dementia phase. Early diagnosis is prerequisite for the early intervention of AD but meanwhile challenging. Amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ₄₂) plays a crucial part in AD pathology. Positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging of Aβ₄₂ in the brain and the measurement of Aβ₄₂ in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been adopted for the auxiliary diagnosis of AD, but their widespread clinical application has been limited due to the radiation and the high-cost of PET and the invasive lumbar puncture for collecting CSF. Noninvasive and cost-effective blood-based assay is desirable for the early diagnosis of AD. Here, a label-free assay for the quantification of blood Aβ₄₂ was developed using the high-throughput surface plasmon resonance imaging method with the aid of an antibody-mimetic peptoid nanosheet equipping Aβ₄₂-recognizing loops. We demonstrated that this nanosheet-based sensor system could distinguish the plasma and sera from normal individuals and patients suffering AD and amnestic MCI with high sensitivity and specificity, preceding the diagnostic performance of the Aβ₄₂-recognizing molecule and the antibody specific to Aβ₄₂. This work provides a label-free, cost-effective, highly sensitive, and high-throughput blood-based assay for early detection of AD.

Detection of Parkinson's Disease through the Peptoid Recognizing α-Synuclein in Serum

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a severe neurodegenerative disease and there is great need for developing a biochemical detection method to precisely diagnose it. Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) participates in the main pathology of PD and serves as an important biomarker of PD. Here, we identified peptoid ASBP-7 that had high affinity and specificity to α-syn by screening a peptoid library using the high-throughput surface plasmon resonance imaging method. We confirmed that ASBP-7 could significantly distinguish PD sera from the normal ones through identifying α-syn in the serum. We also demonstrated the high sensitivity of this system in detecting PD serum. This work provides a method for the blood-based, label-free, high-throughput analysis of PD serum, and holds great potential for the early diagnosis and dynamic monitoring of PD.

Discovery of Neuroregenerative Peptoid from Amphibian Neuropeptide That Inhibits Amyloid-β Toxicity and Crosses Blood-Brain Barrier

Development of potential therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD) requires a multifaceted strategy considering the high levels of complexity of the human brain and its mode of function. Here, we adopted an advanced strategy targeting two key pathological hallmarks of AD: senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. We derived a lead short tetrapeptide, Ser-Leu-Lys-Pro (SLKP), from a dodeca-neuropeptide of amphibian (frog) brain. Results suggested that the SLKP peptide had a superior effect compared to the dodecapeptide in neuroprotection. This result encouraged us to adopt peptidomimetic approach to synthesize an SLKP peptoid. Remarkably, we found that the SLKP peptoid is more potent than its peptide analogue, which significantly inhibits Aβ fibrillization, moderately binds with tubulin, and promotes tubulin polymerization as well as stabilization of microtubule networks. Further, we found that SLKP peptoid is stable in serum, shows significant neuroprotection against Aβ mediated toxicity, promotes significant neurite outgrowth, maintains healthy morphology of rat primary cortical neurons and crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB). To the best of our knowledge, our SLKP peptoid is the first and shortest peptoid to show significant neuroprotection and neuroregeneration against Aβ toxicity, as well as to cross the BBB offering a potential lead for AD therapeutics.

Fluorinated Aromatic Monomers as Building Blocks To Control α-Peptoid Conformation and Structure

Peptoids are peptidomimetics of interest in the fields of drug development and biomaterials. However, obtaining stable secondary structures is challenging, and designing these requires effective control of the peptoid tertiary amide cis/trans equilibrium. Herein, we report new fluorine-containing aromatic monomers that can control peptoid conformation. Specifically, we demonstrate that a fluoro-pyridine group can be used to circumvent the need for monomer chirality to control the cis/trans equilibrium. We also show that incorporation of a trifluoro-methyl group ( N^CF₃Rpe) rather than a methyl group ( NRpe) at the α-carbon of a monomer gives rise to a 5-fold increase in cis-isomer preference.

Discovery of novel elongator protein 2 inhibitors by compound library screening using surface plasmon resonance

Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a pleiotropic cytokine that becomes elevated in chronic inflammatory states, including slowing down osteogenic differentiation, which leads to bone dysplasia in long-term inflammatory microenvironments. The elongator complex plays a role in gene regulation and association with various cellular activities, including the downstream signal transduction of TNF-α in osteogenic cells. To find an inhibitor of Elongator Protein 2 (Elp2), we performed a compound library screen and verified the pharmaceutical effects of candidate compounds on the mouse myoblast cell (C2C12) and mouse osteoblastic cells (MC3T3-E1). The commercial FDA-approved drug (FD) library and the bioactive compound (BC) library were used as candidate libraries. After a label-free, high-throughput affinity measurement with surface plasmon resonance (SPRi), seven kinds of compounds showed binding affinity with mouse Elp2 protein. The seven candidates were then used to perform an inhibition test with TNF-α-induced C2C12 and MC3T3-E1 cell lines. One candidate compound reduced the differentiation suppression caused by TNF-α with resuscitated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, mineralization intensity and expression of osteogenic differentiation marker genes. The results of our study provide a competitive candidate to mitigate the TNF-α-induced osteogenic differentia.

Genesis of Neuroprotective Peptoid from Aβ30-34 Inhibits Aβ Aggregation and AChE Activity

Aβ peptide and hyper-phosphorylated microtubule associated protein (Tau) aggregation causes severe damage to both the neuron membrane and key signal processing microfilament (microtubule) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. To date, the key challenge is to develop nontoxic, proteolytically stable amyloid inhibitors, which can simultaneously target multiple pathways involved in AD. Various attempts have been made in this direction; however, clinical outcomes of those attempts have been reported to be poor. Thus, we choose development of peptoid (N-substituted glycine oligomers)-based leads as potential AD therapeutics, which are easy to synthesize, found to be proteolytically stable, and exhibit excellent bioavailability. In this paper, we have designed and synthesized a new short peptoid for amyloid inhibition from 30-34 hydrophobic pocket of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide. The peptoid selectively binds with 17-21 hydrophobic region of Aβ and inhibits Aβ fibril formation. Various in vitro assays suggested that our AI peptoid binds with tubulin/microtubule and promotes its polymerization and stability. This peptoid also inhibits AChE-induced Aβ fibril formation and provides significant neuroprotection against toxicity generated by nerve growth factor (NGF) deprived neurons derived from rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell line. Moreover, this peptoid shows serum stability and is noncytotoxic to primary rat cortical neurons.

A highly sensitive plasma-based amyloid-β detection system through medium-changing and noise cancellation system for early diagnosis of the Alzheimer's disease

We developed an interdigitated microelectrode (IME) sensor system for blood-based Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis based on impedimetric detection of amyloid-β (Aβ) protein, which is a representative candidate biomarker for AD. The IME sensing device was fabricated using a surface micromachining process. For highly sensitive detection of several tens to hundreds of picogram/mL of Aβ in blood, medium change from plasma to PBS buffer was utilized with signal cancellation and amplification processing (SCAP) system. The system demonstrated approximately 100-folds higher sensitivity according to the concentrations. A robust antibody-immobilization process was used for stability during medium change. Selectivity of the reaction due to the affinity of Aβ to the antibody and the sensitivity according to the concentration of Aβ were also demonstrated. Considering these basic characteristics of the IME sensor system, the medium change was optimized in relation to the absolute value of impedance change and differentiated impedance changes for real plasma based Aβ detection. Finally, the detection of Aβ levels in transgenic and wild-type mouse plasma samples was accomplished with the designed sensor system and the medium-changing method. The results confirmed the potential of this system to discriminate between patients and healthy controls, which would enable blood-based AD diagnosis.

Antibody-Mimetic Peptoid Nanosheet for Label-Free Serum-Based Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by progressive cognitive decline. Current diagnosis of AD is based on symptoms, neuropsychological tests, and neuroimaging, and is usually evident years after the pathological process. Early assessment at the preclinical or prodromal stage is in a great demand since treatment after the onset can hardly stop or reverse the disease progress. However, early diagnosis of AD is challenging due to the lack of reliable noninvasive approaches. Here, an antibody-mimetic self-assembling peptoid nanosheet containing surface-exposed Aβ42-recognizing loops is constructed, and a label-free sensor for the detection of AD serum is developed. The loop-displaying peptoid nanosheet is demonstrated to have high affinity to serum Aβ42, and to be able to identify AD sera with high sensitivity. The dense distribution of molecular recognition loops on the robust peptoid nanosheet scaffold not only mimics the architecture of antibodies, but also reduces the nonspecific binding in detecting multicomponent samples. This antibody-mimetic 2D material holds great potential toward the blood-based diagnosis of AD, and meanwhile provides novel insights into the antibody alternative engineering and the universal application in biological and chemical sensors.

Antiamyloidogenic Activity of Aβ42-Binding Peptoid in Modulating Amyloid Oligomerization

The oligomerization and aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) play central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Molecular binding agents for modulating the formation of Aβ oligomers and fibrils have promising application potential in AD therapies. By screening a peptoid library using surface plasmon resonance imaging, amyloid inhibitory peptoid 1 (AIP1) that has high affinity to Aβ42 is identified. AIP1 is demonstrated to inhibit Aβ42 oligomerization and fibrillation and to rescue Aβ42-induced cytotoxicity through decreasing the content of Aβ42 oligomers that is related to cell membrane permeability. Molecular docking suggests that the binding sites of AIP1 may be at the N-terminus of Aβ42. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of AIP1 using an in vitro BBB model is also revealed. This work provides a strategy for the design and development of peptoid-based antiamyloidogenic agents. The obtained amyloid inhibitory peptoid shows prospects in the therapeutic application in AD.

Nano-biosensors to detect beta-amyloid for Alzheimer's disease management

Beta-amyloid (β-A) peptides are potential biomarkers to monitor Alzheimer's diseases (AD) for diagnostic purposes. Increased β-A level is neurotoxic and induces oxidative stress in brain resulting in neurodegeneration and causes dementia. As of now, no sensitive and inexpensive method is available for β-A detection under physiological and pathological conditions. Although, available methods such as neuroimaging, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detect β-A, but they are not yet extended at point-of-care (POC) due to sophisticated equipments, need of high expertize, complicated operations, and challenge of low detection limit. Recently, β-A antibody based electrochemical immuno-sensing approach has been explored to detect β-A at pM levels within 30-40 min compared to 6-8h of ELISA test. The introduction of nano-enabling electrochemical sensing technology could enable rapid detection of β-A at POC and may facilitate fast personalized health care delivery. This review explores recent advancements in nano-enabling electrochemical β-A sensing technologies towards POC application to AD management. These analytical tools can serve as an analytical tool for AD management program to obtain bio-informatics needed to optimize therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases diagnosis management.

Surface plasmon resonance for the label-free detection of Alzheimer's β-amyloid peptide aggregation

Amyloid peptide oligomers and fibrils are studied as targets for therapy and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. They are usually detected by amyloid incubation, but such method is necessarily associated with Aβ1-42 depletion and dye binding or conjugation, which have a complex influence on fibril growth, provide information about fibril elongation over long time periods only, and might lead to false-positive results in amyloid inhibition assay. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is used to study with no labelling and in real time the aggregation of Aβ1-42 amyloid on specific antibodies. SPR data show, for the first time by using SPR, a multi-phase association behavior for Aβ1-42 oligomers accounting for a sigmoidal growth of amyloid as a function of time, with two antibody-dependent aggregation patterns. The new method represents an advantageous alternative to traditional procedures for investigating amyloid self-assembly and inhibition from early-stage oligomer association, on the time scale of seconds to minutes, to long-term polymerization, on the time scale of hours to days.

A Self-Cleaning TiO2 Nanosisal-like Coating toward Disposing Nanobiochips of Cancer Detection

The advanced nanobiochips have been widely employed in diagnosing some high incidence of diseases because of their portable, low-cost, and highly sensitive features. However, the subsequent disposal of these wastes remains unexposed, probably giving rise to serious environmental pollution and health risks similar to traditional biomedical waste. Here, we have presented a TiO2 nanosisal-like coating for disposing nanobiochip waste via the photoresponsive self-cleaning features of the nanobiochip, demonstrated by the nanochips of cancer detection. Moreover, the high specificity and sensitivity of nanochips can be maintained by integrating unique nanostructured coatings (i.e., nanosisal-like coating) with specific recognition molecules (i.e., anti-EpCAM). Therefore, this study will provide a promising strategy for the design and management of practical nanobiodevices, thereby eliminating the old path "pollute first, clean up later".