Bioinspired biomaterials and enzyme-based biosensors for point-of-care applications with reference to cancer and bio-imaging

Abstract

Abstract Over the years, significant research efforts have been made to engineer numerous types of bio-sensing prototypes for various applications. For instance, bio-sensing prototypes have been configured to yield requisite single measurements to meet specific requirements for a variety of concerns including uses in the biomedical research, drug discovery, the environment, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and process industries, etc. As compared to, in practice, traditional analytical approaches, biomaterials, and enzyme-based biosensors have notable advantages, e.g., (1) high sensitivity, (2) specificity, (3) portability, (4) cost-effectiveness, (5) possibilities for miniaturization and (6) mass production among others. However, the selection of biomaterial and enzyme for designing a bio-sensing prototype is an important issue. The current research progress and development in biosensor arena have gained special interests and thus inevitably focused on the bioinspired biomaterials and enzymes that offer new potentialities to solve the problems such as efficacy, sensitivity, biocompatibility, and biofouling, etc. for point-of-care diagnostic testing and/or in-vivo and in-vitro diagnostics. Moreover, bioinspired biomaterials and enzyme-based biosensors have applications for rapid, specific, sensitive, inexpensive, in-field, online and/or real-time detection. Among different biomaterials, chitosan, collagen, graphene, carbon nanotubes, metallic nanoparticles, and various polymer composites comprising quantum dots have been exploited in biosensors. This review covers recent advancements in the development of biomaterials and enzyme-based biosensors. A particular focus has been given to design characteristics, performance evaluation, and point-of-care applications with specific reference to cancer and bio-imaging.