Biosensing and Delivery of Nucleic Acids Involving Selected Well-Known and Rising Star Functional Nanomaterials

Abstract

In the last fifteen years, the nucleic acid biosensors and delivery area has seen a breakthrough due to the interrelation between the recognition of nucleic acid’s high specificity, the great sensitivity of electrochemical and optical transduction and the unprecedented opportunities imparted by nanotechnology. Advances in this area have demonstrated that the assembly of nanoscaled materials allows the performance enhancement, particularly in terms of sensitivity and response time, of functional nucleic acids’ biosensing and delivery to a level suitable for the construction of point-of-care diagnostic tools. Consequently, this has propelled detection methods using nanomaterials to the vanguard of the biosensing and delivery research fields. This review overviews the striking advancement in functional nanomaterials’ assisted biosensing and delivery of nucleic acids. We highlight the advantages demonstrated by selected well-known and rising star functional nanomaterials (metallic, magnetic and Janus nanomaterials) focusing on the literature produced in the past five years.

Electrochemical Affinity Biosensors Based on Selected Nanostructures for Food and Environmental Monitoring

“…Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials in the preparation of nanostructures with a high versatility for application as electrode modifier, catalytic label, nanozyme, carrier of signal elements and electron transfer regulator in electrochemical affinity biosensing [ 8 ]. This is due to their special properties, including the large surface area, which enhance the amount of immobilized molecules also enabling their favorable orientation and spacing, as well as the outstanding conductivity, mimicked enzyme activity [ 9 ], chemical inertness and biocompatibility, the latter being crucial to preserve the bioactivity of attached bioreagents.…”

“…MNPs used more often in biosensing involve Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite) and Fe 2 O 3 (maghemite). This is due to the high biocompatibility and biodegradability that characterizes both materials [ 8 ]. A variety of uncoated MNPs are commercially available as well as MNPs modified with different coatings which minimize agglomeration, confer biocompatibility and allow modification with a wide variety of biomolecules, thus fueling the preparation of many biosensing designs.…”