Molecules 2010, 15(3), 1932-1957; doi:10.3390/molecules15031932
Review

Biomimetic Silica Microspheres in Biosensing

Sireesha Chemburu 1 , Kyle Fenton 1 , Gabriel P. Lopez 1,2,3  and Reema Zeineldin 4,* email
1 Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA 2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA 4 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 19 Foster Street, Worcester, MA 01608, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 February 2010; in revised form: 16 March 2010 / Accepted: 17 March 2010 / Published: 17 March 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phospholipids)
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Abstract: Lipid vesicles spontaneously fuse and assemble into a lipid bilayer on planar or spherical silica surfaces and other substrates. The supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) maintain characteristics of biological membranes, and are thus considered to be biomembrane mimetic systems that are stable because of the underlying substrate. Examples of their shared characteristics with biomembranes include lateral fluidity, barrier formation to ions and molecules, and their ability to incorporate membrane proteins into them. Biomimetic silica microspheres consisting of SLBs on solid or porous silica microspheres have been utilized for different biosensing applications. The advantages of such biomimetic microspheres for biosensing include their increased surface area to volume ratio which improves the detection limits of analytes, and their amenability for miniaturization, multiplexing and high throughput screening. This review presents examples and formats of using such biomimetic solid or porous silica microspheres in biosensing.
Keywords: biomimetic; silica; microsphere; porous; supported lipid bilayer; fluorescence; flow cytometry; microfluidic; biomembrane

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Chemburu, S.; Fenton, K.; Lopez, G.P.; Zeineldin, R. Biomimetic Silica Microspheres in Biosensing. Molecules 2010, 15, 1932-1957.

AMA Style

Chemburu S, Fenton K, Lopez GP, Zeineldin R. Biomimetic Silica Microspheres in Biosensing. Molecules. 2010; 15(3):1932-1957.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chemburu, Sireesha; Fenton, Kyle; Lopez, Gabriel P.; Zeineldin, Reema. 2010. "Biomimetic Silica Microspheres in Biosensing." Molecules 15, no. 3: 1932-1957.

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