A Survey of the 2010 Quartz Crystal Microbalance Literature

Abstract

In 2010 there has again been an increase in the number of papers published involving piezoelectric acoustic sensors, or quartz crystal microbalances (QCM), when compared to the last period reviewed 2006-2009. The average number of QCM publications per annum was 124 in the period 2001-2005, 223 in the period 2006-9, and 273 in 2010. There are trends towards increasing use of QCM in the study of protein adsorption to surfaces (93% increase), homeostasis (67% increase), protein-protein interactions (40% increase), and carbohydrates (43% increase). New commercial systems have been released that are driving the uptake of the technology for characterisation of binding specificities, affinities, kinetics and conformational changes associated with a molecular recognition event. This article highlights theoretical and practical aspects of the principals that underpin acoustic analysis, then reviews exemplary papers in key application areas involving small molecular weight ligands, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, bacteria, cells, and membrane interfaces.

High-frequency phase shift measurement greatly enhances the sensitivity of QCM immunosensors

“…Since acoustic QCM sensors can detect mass and viscosity alterations on its surface by means of variations on their resonance frequency (Marx, 2003), they have found widespread acceptance as valuable tools for biomolecular interactions and related phenomena analysis. Their scientific merits, simple operation principles and affordable basic elements have been extensively discussed (Marx, 2007;Sagmeister et al, 2009;Speight and Cooper, 2012).…”

Real-time examination of aminoglycoside activity towards bacterial mimetic membranes using Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D)

“…In this study, we explore the activity of two well-known aminoglycosides, kanamycin A and neomycin B, towards bacterial mimetic membranes using a sensitive platform device: a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) [48,49]. This biophysical technique enables exploration of the membrane activity of these two aminoglycoside derivatives in real-time.…”

Bioinspired intelligent molecularly imprinted polymers for chemosensing: A mini review

“…Understanding these mechanisms will allow us for constructing artificial chemosensors to detect these diseases at early stages of their development. Literature brings several examples of successful imprinting microorganisms, such as bacteria [46][47][48] and viruses [49]. Different microorganisms with different structures, e.g., gram positive bacteria and protozoans parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, were imprinted in thin sol-gel films [49].…”