We report for the first time single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)-based chemiresistive affinity sensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of small and/or weak-/un-charged molecules using displacement format. The detection of glucose, a small weakly charged molecule, by displacement of plant lectin, Concavalin A, bound to polysaccharide, dextran, immobilized on SWNTs, with picomolar sensitivity and selectivity over other sugars and human serum proteins is demonstrated as a proof-of-concept.

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We demonstrate a highly sensitive nano aptasensor for anthrax toxin through the detection of its polypeptide entity, protective antigen (PA toxin) using a PA toxin ssDNA aptamer functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) device. The aptamer was developed in-house by capillary electrophoresis systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (CE-SELEX) and had a dissociation constant (K d ) of 112 nM. The aptasensor displayed a wide dynamic range spanning up to 800 nM with a detection limit of 1nM. The sensitivity was 0.11 per nM and it was reusable six times. The aptasensor was also highly selective for PA toxin with no interference from human and bovine serum albumin, demonstrating it as a potential tool for rapid and point-of-care diagnosis for anthrax.

Here, we present a new generation of nanoscale probes for in vivo monitoring of protease activity by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The approach is based on a genetically programmable protein module carrying a fluorescently labeled, protease-specific sequence that can self-assemble onto quantum dots. The protein module was used for real-time detection of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 protease (HIV-1 Pr) activity as well as quantitative assessment of inhibitor efficiency.