Molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for the ultrasensitive detection of cytochrome c

Cytochrome c (Cyt c) is an important biomarker for the early stage of apoptosis that plays a role in the diagnosis and therapy of several diseases including cancer. Here, an electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the ultrasensitive detection of Cyt c is studied. It is prepared by electropolymerization of o-phenylenediamine in the presence of Cyt c as template, followed by solvent extraction, resulting in the formation of Cyt c recognition sites. The MIP is characterised by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, using ferrocenecarboxylic acid as redox probe. Voltammetric data indicates that the MIP-sensor behaves as an electrode with partially blocked surface. The partition isotherm obtained fits the Langmuir model, indicating a high affinity for Cyt c, with an association constant K_a = 5 × 10 ¹¹ M^-1. DPV measurements allow to achieve extremely high analytical sensitivity and low detection limit, in the femtomolar range, with negligible unspecific adsorption. Satisfactory analytical recovery tests performed in the presence of possible interfering proteins and in diluted human serum confirmed the selectivity of the MIP-sensor as well as its potential applicability for real samples analysis.

Biomimetic and Biological Nanoarchitectonics

A post-nanotechnology concept has been assigned to an emerging concept, nanoarchitectonics. Nanoarchitectonics aims to establish a discipline in which functional materials are fabricated from nano-scale components such as atoms, molecules, and nanomaterials using various techniques. Nanoarchitectonics opens ways to form a more unified paradigm by integrating nanotechnology with organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, material chemistry, microfabrication technology, and biotechnology. On the other hand, biological systems consist of rational organization of constituent molecules. Their structures have highly asymmetric and hierarchical features that allow for chained functional coordination, signal amplification, and vector-like energy and signal flow. The process of nanoarchitectonics is based on the premise of combining several different processes, which makes it easier to obtain a hierarchical structure. Therefore, nanoarchitectonics is a more suitable methodology for creating highly functional systems based on structural asymmetry and hierarchy like biosystems. The creation of functional materials by nanoarchitectonics is somewhat similar to the creation of functional systems in biological systems. It can be said that the goal of nanoarchitectonics is to create highly functional systems similar to those found in biological systems. This review article summarizes the synthesis of biomimetic and biological molecules and their functional structure formation from various viewpoints, from the molecular level to the cellular level. Several recent examples are arranged and categorized to illustrate such a trend with sections of (i) synthetic nanoarchitectonics for bio-related units, (ii) self-assembly nanoarchitectonics with bio-related units, (iii) nanoarchitectonics with nucleic acids, (iv) nanoarchitectonics with peptides, (v) nanoarchitectonics with proteins, and (vi) bio-related nanoarchitectonics in conjugation with materials.