Advances in detection of nucleic acid tumor biomarkers via electrochemical biosensors

Abstract

The detection of tumor biomarkers can result in early diagnosis and monitoring of the development and prognosis of cancer. With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, various types of nucleic acids have been identified to be associated with tumorigenesis and tumor progression. These nucleic acids can be used as tumor biomarkers and play an important role in the early diagnosis of cancer. Because most nucleic acids have the characteristics of instability, dynamic expression, and low abundance, it is particularly important to detect these types of tumor markers quickly, sensitively, and specifically. Electrochemical biosensor technology is a fast-developing method that meets these requirements. Compared with the traditional detection methods, electrochemical detection has attracted more attention due to its high efficiency, sensitivity, and simplicity. Moreover, the detection equipment is portable, cheap, and easily miniaturized and integrated. Recently, electrochemical biosensors for nucleic acid detection have made considerable advances and have demonstrated their potential application in precision medicine. This review focuses on various types of nucleic acid tumor biomarkers and summarizes the latest progress achieved in recent years in developing electrochemical sensors for detecting nucleic acid markers, with an emphasis on the probe design and signal amplification strategies in electrochemical sensor systems.