We report the first use of a polymerization-based ELISA substrate solution employing enzymatically mediated radical polymerization as a dual-mode amplification strategy. Enzymes are selectively coupled to surfaces to generate radicals that subsequently lead to polymerization-based amplification (PBA) and biodetection. Sensitivity and amplification of the polymerization-based detection system we...

Advances in nanotechnology have pushed forward the synthesis of a variety of functional nanoparticles (NPs) such as semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), magnetic and metallic NPs. The unique electronic, magnetic, and optical properties exhibited by these nanometer-sized materials have enabled a broad spectrum of biomedical applications. In particular, iron-oxide-based magnetic NPs have proved to b...

BACKGROUND Single-molecule detection (SMD) technologies are well suited for clinical diagnostic applications by offering the prospect of minimizing precious patient sample requirements while maximizing clinical information content. Not yet available, however, is a universal SMD-based platform technology that permits multiplexed detection of both nucleic acid and protein targets and that is suit...

Micromechanical cantilevers show great potential as highly sensitive biochemical sensors. Cantilever-based sensing involves the transduction of a biomolecular interaction to a measurable mechanical change in the cantilever resulting from induced surface stresses added mass. In surface stress sensing applications, one side of the cantilever beam is rendered sensitive to a specific target molecul...

The use of in vitro assays is important for the biodetection of endocrine active substances (EAS), reducing and replacing the in vivo studies required for regulatory assessment. However, this approach often fails to take into account the role of biotransformation on the activity of the test substances. A method incorporating an S9 metabolic system into the CALUX-reporter gene assays for estroge...

Electrospun nanofibres are highly attractive products taking advantage of their remarkable specific surface area, high porosity and good transport properties that are ideal requirements for efficient molecule detection. In this work, fibres of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were first prepared by electrospinning. These fibres were then coated with silver nanoparticles or silver/graphene nanocomposites...

Micromechanical cantilevers show great potential as highly sensitive biochemical sensors. Cantilever-based sensing involves the transduction of a biomolecular interaction to a measurable mechanical change in the cantilever resulting from induced surface stresses added mass. In surface stress sensing applications, one side of the cantilever beam is rendered sensitive to a specific target molecul...

Field use of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors for environmental and defense applications such as detection and identification of biological warfare agents has been hampered by lack of rugged, portable, high-performance instrumentation. To meet this need, we have developed compact multi-analyte SPR instruments based on Texas Instruments' Spreeta sensing chips. The instruments weigh 3 k...

Copper sulfide (CuS) concave polyhedral superstructures (CPSs) have been successfully prepared in an ethanolic solution by a simple solvothermal reaction without the use of surfactants or templates. Two typical well defined, high symmetry CuS concave polyhedrons, forming a concave truncated cuboctahedron and icosahedron were prepared. The effect of the reaction time, temperature and different C...