Advances in Electrochemical Biosensors Based on Nanomaterials for Protein Biomarker Detection in Saliva

TL;DR

This paper reviews how nanomaterial-based electrochemical biosensors can detect protein biomarkers in saliva for quick disease diagnosis and monitoring.

Contribution

The paper provides a critical review of recent advances in nanomaterial-enhanced electrochemical biosensors for point-of-care protein detection in saliva.

Findings

Nanomaterials improve the analytical performance of electrochemical biosensors for saliva-based biomarker detection.

Current sensors need optimization for reliable next-generation sample-in-answer-out systems.

Electrochemical biosensors are promising for rapid and accurate point-of-care diagnostics.

Abstract

The focus on precise medicine enhances the need for timely diagnosis and frequent monitoring of chronic diseases. Moreover, the recent pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 poses a great demand for rapid detection and surveillance of viral infections. The detection of protein biomarkers and antigens in the saliva allows rapid identification of diseases or disease changes in scenarios where and when the test response at the point of care is mandated. While traditional methods of protein testing fail to provide the desired fast results, electrochemical biosensors based on nanomaterials hold perfect characteristics for the detection of biomarkers in point‐of‐care settings. The recent advances in electrochemical sensors for salivary protein detection are critically reviewed in this work, with emphasis on the role of nanomaterials to boost the biosensor analytical performance and increase the reliability of the test in human saliva samples. Furthermore, this work identifies the critical factors for further modernization of the nanomaterial‐based electrochemical sensors, envisaging the development and implementation of next‐generation sample‐in‐answer‐out systems.

This article reviews the recent developments of electrochemical sensors for the detection of disease‐signaling protein biomarkers in saliva bio‐samples. The role of nanomaterials in synergy with bio‐recognition probes and electrochemical sensing techniques for boosting the analytical performance of resultant sensors is described and discussed. Perspectives and views in this field are also given.

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