Abstract
Biosensors are analytical devices that have found a variety of applications in medical diagnostics, food quality control, environmental monitoring and biodefense. In recent years, functional nucleic acids, such as aptamers and nucleic acid enzymes, have shown great potential in biosensor development due to their excellent ability in target recognition and catalysis. Deoxyribozymes (or DNAzymes) are single-stranded DNA molecules with catalytic activity and can be isolated to recognize a wide range of analytes through the process of in vitro selection. By using various signal transduction mechanisms, DNAzymes can be engineered into fluorescent, colorimetric, electrochemical and chemiluminescent biosensors. Among them, colorimetric sensors represent an attractive option as the signal can be easily detected by the naked eye. This reduces reliance on complex and expensive equipment. In this review, we will discuss the recent progress in the development of colorimetric biosensors that make use of DNAzymes and the prospect of employing these sensors in a range of chemical and biological applications.
Highlights
AuNPHere, systems, awill series of colorimetric biosensors has been developed forofa broad range we present an overview of the signaling strategies of targets [44,66]
The development of the in vitro selection technique has allowed for the discovery of DNAzymes over last years, with excellent ability in both target recognition and enzymatic catalysis
The substantial development in DNAzyme-based colorimetric biosensors, as spotlighted in this review, further validates the idea that DNAzymes can be integrated with various colorimetric signal transduction elements, such as AuNPs, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and organic dyes, to achieve practically useful applications
Summary
Biosensors are analytical devices that utilize a biological component for the detection of a specific analyte [1] This idea was first conceptualized in 1962 by Leland Clark with the development of an enzyme-based biosensor that could monitor blood glucose levels [2]. This biosensor, the first and perhaps the most widely known example, uses glucose oxidase to generate an electrochemical signal, which is quantified through the use of an oxygen electrode. As the development of biosensors accelerated, two broad categories of biosensors emerged: simple and complex Simple biosensors, such as the aforementioned glucose monitor, tend to sacrifice sensitivity and throughput with the goal of greatly reducing cost, complexity and size, while remaining functional when faced with the chemical and biological variability of real world samples.
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