Selective Passivation of Three-Dimensional Carbon Microelectrodes by Polydopamine Electrodeposition and Local Laser Ablation

Point-of-care dengue detection: polydopamine-modified electrode for rapid NS1 protein testing for clinical samples

Early diagnosis of dengue infection by detecting the dengue virus non-structural protein 1 (DENV-NS1) is important to the patients to initiate speedy treatment. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based NS1 detection and RT-PCR are time-consuming and too complex to be employed in remote areas of dengue-endemic countries. Meanwhile, those of NS1 rapid test by lateral flow assay suffer from low detection limit. Electrochemical-based biosensors using screen-printed gold electrodes (SPGEs) have become a reliable detection method to convey both ELISA's high sensitivity and rapid test portability. In this research, we developed an electrochemical biosensor for DENV-NS1 detection by employing polydopamine (PDA)-modified SPGE. The electrodeposition of PDA on the surface of SPGE serves as a bioconjugation avenue for anti-NS1 antibody through a simple and low-cost immobilization procedure. The biosensor performance was evaluated to detect DENV-NS1 protein in PBS and human serum through a differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) technique. The developed sensing platform displayed a low limit of detection (LOD) of 1.63 pg mL-1 and a wide linear range of 10 pg mL-1 to 1 ng mL-1 (R2 ∼ 0.969). The sensing platform also detected DEV-NS1 from four different serotypes in the clinical samples collected from dengue patients in India and Indonesia, with acceptable sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy values of 90.00%, 80.95%, and 87.65%, respectively. This result showcased the facile and versatile method of PDA coating onto the surface of screen-printed gold electrodes for a miniaturized point-of-care (PoC) detection device.

Aligned Electroactive Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Effective repair and functional recovery of large peripheral nerve deficits are urgent clinical needs. A biofunctional electroactive scaffold typically acts as a "bridge" for the repair of large nerve defects. In this study, we constructed a biomimetic piezoelectric and conductive aligned polypyrrole (PPy)/polydopamine (PDA)/poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) electrospun fibrous scaffold to improve the hydrophilicity and cellular compatibility of PLLA and restore the weakened piezoelectric effect of PDA, which is beneficial in promoting Schwann cell differentiation and dorsal root ganglion neuronal extension and alignment. The aligned PPy/PDA/PLLA fibrous scaffold bridged the sciatic nerve of Sprague-Dawley rats with a 10 mm deficit, prevented autotomy, and promoted nerve regeneration and functional recovery, thereby activating the calcium and AMP-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Therefore, electroactive fibrous scaffolds exhibit great potential for neural tissue regeneration.

Two-photon polymerization lithography enabling the fabrication of PEDOT:PSS 3D structures for bioelectronic applications

Conductive 3D platforms have gained increasing attention in bioelectronics thanks to the improvement in the cell-chip coupling. PEDOT:PSS is nowadays widely employed in bioelectronic applications thanks to its electrical and mechanical properties. In this work, an innovative fabrication method for the realization of PEDOT:PSS-based conductive micropillars and 3D cage-like structures is presented, combining two-photon lithography and electrodeposition techniques.