Portable, low-cost biosensor developed by researchers at the national laboratory ofnanotechnology: this is an electronic device manufactured
A biosensor developed by researchers at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory(LNNano), in Campinas, has shown itself capable of detecting molecules related to neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer.
It is an electronic device manufactured on a platform.
In it, a transistor is formed by an organic layer in nanometer range, containing the peptide reduced Glutathione (GSH), that reacts to specific way when in contact with the enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST), related to diseases such as Parkinson's,Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer, among others.
GSH reaction-GST is detected by the transistor and can be used in diagnosis.
The biosensor was developed within the Project "development of new strategic materials for analytical devices", held with the support of FAPESP, which brings togetherresearchers from different areas of knowledge around the device point of care technology, simple test systems run by the patient.
"Using platforms like this, complex diseases can be diagnosed quickly, safe and relatively inexpensive, once that technology uses nano-scale systems to identify the molecules of interest in the material reviewed," explains Carlos Cesar Bof Bufon, Coordinator of Functional devices and systems Lab (DSF) of LNNano and researcher associated with the project coordinated by professor Lauro Kubota , of the Institute of chemistry of the Unicamp.
In addition to the low cost and portability, Bufon highlights how English is advantage in nano-scale the sensitivity with which the device detects the molecules.
"For the first time an organic transistor technology is used for the detection of GST,GSH pair in order to diagnose degenerative illnesses, for example. This will allow the detection of such molecules even present in low concentrations in the material examined, since the reactions are detected on the nanoscale, i.e. millionths of millimeters. "
The system can be adapted to detect other substances, like different diseases-related molecules and elements present in contaminated material, among other applications.
To do this, change the molecules incorporated into the sensor, that react in the presence of the chemical components that are the subject of analysis in the test, called analytes.
"The DSF from LNNano has developed a variety of platforms for chemical, physical and biological sensing to strategic national and international sectors, including health, environment and energy," says Bufon.
The goal, says the researcher, is "have a number of solutions in point of care devicesto respond with agility to a series of demands". For example, outbreaks of diseasesor analysis of analytes contaminants, such as lead and toxins in water samples.
The research that led to the development of biosensor for detecting molecules related to neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer has been reported in the article Water-gated transistors phthalocyanine: Operation and signal transductionof the peptide-enzyme interaction, published in the journal Organic Electronics, andis available at the address in www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566119916300416.
The work is authored by researchers Rafael de Oliveira, Leandro Furlan of mercy Silva and Tatiana Parra Vello, under the coordination of Bufon, all of the DSF in the LNNano.
The glass to paper
In order to further reduce costs, improve the portability of developed biosensors and facilitate your process of manufacture and disposal, the Group has been working on substances detection systems on platforms.
"The role as platform for the manufacture of analytical devices, presents a number of advantages because it is a natural polymer, widely available throughout the world, light, biodegradable, portable and foldable," says Bufon.
The challenge is to convert a insulating material, paper case, in driver. For this, the researcher developed a technique that allows you to soak in the cellulose polymers with conductive properties, making it able to conduct electricity and transmit information from one point to another and assigning it the function of a system for sensing applications.
"The technique is based on in situ synthesis of conducting polymers. For these polymers do not be retained on the surface of paper, it is necessary that they are synthesized within the pores of cellulose fiber and between them.
For this, the process is made by means of a chemical vapor curing route: a liquid oxidizing agent is embedded in the paper, which is then exposed to the monomers (small molecules capable of connecting the other) in the vapour phase.
The evaporating under the paper, the monomers enter the submicrométrica-scale fiber, penetrating between the pores, where they find the oxidizing agent and start the process of polymerisation there, impregnating all the stuff, "he explains.
According to the researcher, "it's like trying to fill a room with balloons; If they do not pass through the door full of air, an alternative is to stuff them inside ".
Once impregnated by polymers, the role is the conductive properties of them.
This conductivity can be adjusted depending on the application you want to give the paper, by manipulating the element that is incorporated into the cellulose fiber.
In this way, the device can be a conductor of electric current, taking her from one point to another without heavy losses (think paper aerials, for example), or semiconductor, interacting with specific molecules and working as physical, chemical or electrochemical sensor.
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