Inorganic Complexes and Metal-Based Nanomaterials for Infectious Disease Diagnostics

Abstract

Infectious diseases claim millions of lives each year. Robust and accurate diagnostics are essential tools for identifying those who are at risk and in need of treatment in low-resource settings. Inorganic complexes and metal-based nanomaterials continue to drive the development of diagnostic platforms and strategies that enable infectious disease detection in low-resource settings. In this review, we highlight works from the past 20 years in which inorganic chemistry and nanotechnology were implemented in each of the core components that make up a diagnostic test. First, we present how inorganic biomarkers and their properties are leveraged for infectious disease detection. In the following section, we detail metal-based technologies that have been employed for sample preparation and biomarker isolation from sample matrices. We then describe how inorganic- and nanomaterial-based probes have been utilized in point-of-care diagnostics for signal generation. The following section discusses instrumentation for signal readout in resource-limited settings. Next, we highlight the detection of nucleic acids at the point of care as an emerging application of inorganic chemistry. Lastly, we consider the challenges that remain for translation of the aforementioned diagnostic platforms to low-resource settings.

Microfluidic Generation of Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

“…Inorganic NPs, mainly including metal, metal oxide, and quantum dots (QDs), have unique optical, electrical, and magnetic properties. [6][7][8][9] Organic NPs generated from biocompatible polymers such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, or various synthetics, can deliver drugs, nucleic acids, or imaging components in vivo. [10][11][12][13] NFs are spinned from synthetic or natural polymers, which can be woven into fibrous scaffolds or combined with stem cell biotechnology, taking important parts in regenerative medicine.…”

“…To facilitate describing their functions in diagnostics and therapeutics, NPs are further categorized as inorganic or organic particles. Inorganic NPs, mainly including metal, metal oxide, and quantum dots (QDs), have unique optical, electrical, and magnetic properties . Organic NPs generated from biocompatible polymers such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, or various synthetics, can deliver drugs, nucleic acids, or imaging components in vivo .…”

Supermolecules as Medicinal Drugs

“…Therefore, to develop and screen new therapeutic antibacterial agents from these active supermolecules is being extensively investigated. According to the structures of the ligands, the supermolecules as antibacterial agents can be divided into the following categories: quinolones, sulfanilamides, Schiff bases, thiosemicarbazides, and macrocycles [32].…”

Chemoinformatic Resources for Organometallic Drug Discovery

“…Metal-containing compounds in clinical use and under clinical development as well as relevant in diagnostic applica-Computational Molecular Bioscience tions have been discussed extensively in the literature. Indeed, metallodrugs and some inorganic molecules offer large benefits as diagnostic tools [2] and are associated with the field of metalloimaging. Metallodrugs have diverse mechanisms of action [3] and therapeutic applications of which one of the more explored are anti-cancer followed by antibacterial activity.…”