Advances in high abundance protein molecular imprinting techniques in human serum

Abstract

The detection of protein biomarkers is crucial for early disease diagnosis. However, these biomarkers are present at low levels in serum, and the detection signal is easily interfered with by high levels of proteins. These factors pose major challenges for direct biomarker detection by existing technologies; thus, sample pre-treatments are performed as the best solution. Molecularly imprinted polymers have excellent properties of good binding ability, high selectivity and low cost, making this technique one of the best for serum pre-treatment. This review discusses the recent research status and development of bulk and surface imprinting techniques for high-abundance proteins. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes the research overview and progress of substrate and template selection, template immobilization technology and strategies to control the thickness of imprinted polymers when using the surface imprinting technique. Finally, the main challenges of molecular imprinting technique (MIT) application for high-abundance proteins and the future direction of this field are highlighted.