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Biorecognition Elements: Applications, Benefits, Challenges and Limitations

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 5420

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Interests: bioanalysis; capillary electrophoresis; fluorescence-based techniques; imaging

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Guest Editor
SPETEC GmbH, Berghamer Str. 2, 85435 Erding, Germany
Interests: Bio-Imaging; Bio-conjugation of antibodies; Immuno-Assays, Single cell analysis, mass cytometry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A common feature of antibodies, aptamers, enzymes and cell receptor-inspired biomolecules—besides their biological origin—is the ability to selectively or even specifically recognize a certain molecule or group of molecules. This capability is exploited not only in in vivo applications but also in numerous in vitro (bio)analytical applications. For instance, immuno-based methods that take advantage of the naturally evolved selectivity of antibodies are routinely employed standard techniques in biochemistry and medical diagnostics, as well as in clinical analysis. Despite their indisputable benefits, antibodies also possess numerous disadvantages, including their costly and often irreproducible or even impossible preparation, limited chemical stability and, in some cases, unidentified mechanism of interaction. To overcome some of these obstacles, a new group of biorecognition elements—aptamers—has been recently introduced, allowing for more controlled synthesis and on-demand target-specific preparation. However, despite all the progress, the search for an optimal element of biological recognition whose advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages is not over.

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight new analytical approaches based on selective biomolecules, to discuss the pros and cons of well-established and novel strategies and to emphasize challenges and limitations. Investigators are invited to contribute short communications, full research articles and timely reviews related but not limited to:

  • development, characterization, and application of novel biosensing elements
  • evaluation of recognition element selectivity
  • utilization of biomolecules in (bio)analytical chemistry
  • development of novel assays utilizing natural or nature-inspired biomolecules
  • advances in selective targeting of biological structures, cells or organs

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Markéta Vaculovičová
Prof. Norbert Jakubowski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomolecule
  • selectivity
  • targeting
  • sensing
  • in vivo application
  • therapy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3290 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Metal Nanoparticles (Au, Ag, Eu, Cd) Used for Immunoanalysis Using LA-ICP-MS Detection
by Marcela Vlcnovska, Aneta Stossova, Michaela Kuchynka, Veronika Dillingerova, Hana Polanska, Michal Masarik, Roman Hrstka, Vojtech Adam, Viktor Kanicky, Tomas Vaculovic and Marketa Vaculovicova
Molecules 2021, 26(3), 630; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26030630 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2770
Abstract
Immunochemical methods are used not only in clinical practice for the diagnosis of a wide range of diseases but also in basic and advanced research. Based on the unique reaction between the antibody and its respective antigens, it serves to specifically recognize target [...] Read more.
Immunochemical methods are used not only in clinical practice for the diagnosis of a wide range of diseases but also in basic and advanced research. Based on the unique reaction between the antibody and its respective antigens, it serves to specifically recognize target molecules in biological complex samples. Current methods of labelling antibodies with elemental labels followed by detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) allow detection of multiple antigens in parallel in a single analysis. Using the laser ablation (LA) modality (LA-ICP-MS), it is also possible to monitor the spatial distribution of biogenic elements. Moreover, the employment of metal nanoparticle-labeled antibodies expands the applicability also to molecular imaging by LA-ICP-MS. In this work, conjugates of model monoclonal antibody (DO-1, recognizing p53 protein) with various metal nanoparticles-based labels were created and utilized in dot-blot analysis in order to compare their benefits and disadvantages. Based on experiments with the p53 protein standard, commercial kits of gold nanoparticles proved to be the most suitable for the preparation of conjugates. The LA-ICP-MS demonstrated very good repeatability, wide linear dynamic range (0.1–14 ng), and limit of detection was calculated as a 1.3 pg of p53 protein. Full article
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16 pages, 12069 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of an Element-Tagged Duplex Immunoassay Coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Detection: A Further Study for the Application of the New Assay in Clinical Laboratory
by Wencan Jiang, Gongwei Sun, Wenbin Cui, Shasha Men, Miao Jing, Danna Pu, Sichun Zhang, Xiaozhou Yuan, Xinrong Zhang and Chengbin Wang
Molecules 2020, 25(22), 5370; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25225370 - 17 Nov 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2141
Abstract
Background: Element-tagged immunoassay coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection has the potential to revolutionize immunoassay analysis for multiplex detection. However, a further study referring to the standard evaluation and clinical sample verification is needed to ensure its reliability for simultaneous [...] Read more.
Background: Element-tagged immunoassay coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection has the potential to revolutionize immunoassay analysis for multiplex detection. However, a further study referring to the standard evaluation and clinical sample verification is needed to ensure its reliability for simultaneous analysis in clinical laboratories. Methods: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) were chosen for the duplex immunoassay. The performance of the assay was evaluated according to guidelines from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Moreover, reference intervals (RIs) of CEA and AFP were established. At last, 329 clinical samples were analyzed by the proposed method and results were compared with those obtained with electrochemiluminescent immunoassay (ECLIA) method. Results: The measurement range of the assay was 2–940 ng/mL for CEA and 1.5–1000 ng/mL for AFP, with a detection limit of 0.94 ng/mL and 0.34 ng/mL, respectively. The inter-assay and intra-assay imprecision were all less than 6.58% and 10.62%, respectively. The RI of CEA and AFP was 0–3.84 ng/mL and 0–9.94 ng/mL, respectively. Regarding to clinical sample detection, no significant difference was observed between the proposed duplex assay and the ECLIA method. Conclusions: The ICP-MS-based duplex immunoassay was successfully developed and the analytical performance fully proved clinical applicability. Well, this could be different with other analytes. Full article
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