Developments and Applications of Bioluminescent and Chemiluminescent Sensors and Probes

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensor and Bioelectronic Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 14712

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Federal Research Center, Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biophysics, SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Interests: bioluminescent proteins (structure, properties, modification, application); bioluminescence-based analytical systems; label-free analytical systems
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Guest Editor
Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Interests: chemiluminescence (fundamentals, analytical & bioanalytical applications, biosensors); molecular spectroscopy; energy & electron transfer; free radicals; reactive oxygen species; bioantioxidants; oxidative stress; biomarkers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Сolleagues,

With this letter, we cordially invite you to submit research/review papers to the upcoming Special Issue titled “Developments and Applications of Bioluminescent and Chemiluminescent  Sensors and Probes”, which is devoted to the splendid phenomenona of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence in terms of their analytical applications. In this context, the pertinent proteins that are involved in the occurrence of bioluminescence, their biospecific derivatives, the development of sensors on their base, and novel assays using these proteins merit prime attention. Nevertheless, the general scope of the forthcoming Issue is not limited to protein applications and encompasses all of the salient features of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence processes that are suitable for developing efficient biosensors and analytical tools. Complementary to bioluminescence methods, appropriate chemiluminescence techniques constitute another integral part of the Issue. As vital oxidative processes are accompanied by the excited-state generation followed by light emission, papers that are devoted to examining the effects of oxygen metabolism mediators (diverse oxidants and bioantioxidants) on the chemiluminescence of an oxidative nature are considered to be important contributions to this Special Issue. These contributions are expected to refer to the mechanistic and kinetic fundamentals of chemiluminescence assays and sensors for biologically important reactive oxygen and nitrogen species as well as for appropriate bioantioxidants, the validation of the considered assays, and relevant illustrative examples of their use.

It is known that centuries ago, the cold light of living organisms and inanimate objects evoked admiration and superstitious horror in equal measure. However, by the middle of the 20th century, chemiluminescent reactions (CL) received a fundamental baseand we determined how to use them as an analytical tool. Bioluminescent reactions (BL), due to which the glow of living organisms can be observed, are of particular attention and interest. In fact, bioluminescence is a special type of chemiluminescent reaction that is catalyzed by specific enzymes, luciferases. In addition to catalysis, the protein globule isolates the excited product from medium and prevents the dissipation of excitation energy dissipation as heat by this significantly increasing the reaction quantum yield. This motivates practical interest in studying bioluminescence. The search for novel luciferases and their substrates (luciferins) is constantly being carried out,as is the directed modification of the already-known ones in order to obtain derivatives with new useful properties. By now, chemiluminescence and bioluminescence have become a powerful analytical tool based on the highly sensitive registration of an optical signal, the scale of which can hardly be overestimated. The accumulated knowledge and experimental arsenal allow us to promptly respond to the topical challenges of modern medicine and biotechnology and to say nothing of the CL- and BL-based analytical systems that are widely used in experimental biology. We hope that your latest experimental research results as well as comprehensive reviews in related fields will be valuable contributions to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Liudmila A Frank
Prof. Dr. Aleksei V. Trofimov
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • luciferase
  • photoprotein
  • bioluminescence
  • chemiluminescence
  • reactive oxygen species
  • bioantioxidants
  • bioreceptor
  • optical signal
  • specificity
  • sensitivity

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 14377 KiB  
Article
Smartphone-Based Chemiluminescence Glucose Biosensor Employing a Peroxidase-Mimicking, Guanosine-Based Self-Assembled Hydrogel
by Donato Calabria, Andrea Pace, Elisa Lazzarini, Ilaria Trozzi, Martina Zangheri, Massimo Guardigli, Silvia Pieraccini, Stefano Masiero and Mara Mirasoli
Biosensors 2023, 13(6), 650; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13060650 - 14 Jun 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2779
Abstract
Chemiluminescence is widely used for hydrogen peroxide detection, mainly exploiting the highly sensitive peroxidase-luminol-H2O2 system. Hydrogen peroxide plays an important role in several physiological and pathological processes and is produced by oxidases, thus providing a straightforward way to quantify these [...] Read more.
Chemiluminescence is widely used for hydrogen peroxide detection, mainly exploiting the highly sensitive peroxidase-luminol-H2O2 system. Hydrogen peroxide plays an important role in several physiological and pathological processes and is produced by oxidases, thus providing a straightforward way to quantify these enzymes and their substrates. Recently, biomolecular self-assembled materials obtained by guanosine and its derivatives and displaying peroxidase enzyme-like catalytic activity have received great interest for hydrogen peroxide biosensing. These soft materials are highly biocompatible and can incorporate foreign substances while preserving a benign environment for biosensing events. In this work, a self-assembled guanosine-derived hydrogel containing a chemiluminescent reagent (luminol) and a catalytic cofactor (hemin) was used as a H2O2-responsive material displaying peroxidase-like activity. Once loaded with glucose oxidase, the hydrogel provided increased enzyme stability and catalytic activity even in alkaline and oxidizing conditions. By exploiting 3D printing technology, a smartphone-based portable chemiluminescence biosensor for glucose was developed. The biosensor allowed the accurate measurement of glucose in serum, including both hypo- and hyperglycemic samples, with a limit of detection of 120 µmol L−1. This approach could be applied for other oxidases, thus enabling the development of bioassays to quantify biomarkers of clinical interest at the point of care. Full article
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13 pages, 2607 KiB  
Article
Immobilization of Firefly Bioluminescent System: Development and Application of Reagents
by Elena N. Esimbekova, Maria A. Kirillova and Valentina A. Kratasyuk
Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010047 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2501
Abstract
The present study describes the method of preparing reagents containing firefly luciferase (FLuc) and its substrate, D-luciferin, immobilized into gelatin gel separately or together. The addition of stabilizers dithiothreitol (DTT) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the reagent is a factor in achieving [...] Read more.
The present study describes the method of preparing reagents containing firefly luciferase (FLuc) and its substrate, D-luciferin, immobilized into gelatin gel separately or together. The addition of stabilizers dithiothreitol (DTT) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the reagent is a factor in achieving higher activity of reagents and their stability during storage. The use of immobilized reagents substantially simplifies the procedure of assay for microbial contamination. The mechanism of action of the reagents is based on the relationship between the intensity of the bioluminescent signal and the level of ATP contained in the solution of the lysed bacterial cells. The highest sensitivity to ATP is achieved by using immobilized FLuc or reagents containing separately immobilized FLuc and D-luciferase. The limit of detection of ATP by the developed reagents is 0.3 pM, which corresponds to 20,000 cells·mL−1. The linear response range is between 0.3 pM and 3 nM ATP. The multicomponent reagent, containing co-immobilized FLuc and D-luciferin, shows insignificantly lower sensitivity to ATP—0.6 pM. Moreover, the proposed method of producing an immobilized firefly luciferin-luciferase system holds considerable promise for the development of bioluminescent biosensors intended for the analysis of microbial contamination. Full article
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8 pages, 1314 KiB  
Article
Bioluminescent-Inhibition-Based Biosensor for Full-Profile Soil Contamination Assessment
by Elizaveta M. Kolosova, Oleg S. Sutormin, Aleksandr A. Shpedt, Ludmila V. Stepanova and Valentina A. Kratasyuk
Biosensors 2022, 12(5), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12050353 - 19 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2446
Abstract
A bioluminescent-enzyme-inhibition-based assay was applied to predict the potential toxicity of the full profile of the following soil samples: agricultural grassland, 10-year fallow land (treated with remediation processes for 10 years) and uncontaminated (virgin) land. This assay specifically detects the influence of aqueous [...] Read more.
A bioluminescent-enzyme-inhibition-based assay was applied to predict the potential toxicity of the full profile of the following soil samples: agricultural grassland, 10-year fallow land (treated with remediation processes for 10 years) and uncontaminated (virgin) land. This assay specifically detects the influence of aqueous soil extracts from soils on the activity of a coupled enzyme system of luminescent bacteria: NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase + luciferase (Red + Luc). It was shown that the inhibitory effect of the full-profile soil samples on the Red + Luc system decreased with depth for the 10-year fallow-land and virgin-land samples, which correlated with a decrease in the humic organic matter content in the soils. The inhibitory effect of the agricultural grassland on the Red + Luc enzyme system activity was more complex and involved the presence of the humic organic matter content, as well as the presence of pollutants in the whole-soil profile. However, if the interfering effect of humic organic substances on the Red + Luc system’s activity is taken into account during full-profile soil toxicity assessments, it might help to detect pollutant mobility and its leaching into the subsoil layer. Thus, this bioluminescent method, due to the technical simplicity, rapid response time and high sensitivity, has the potential to be developed as a biological part of the inhibition-based assay and/or biosensors for the preventive tracing of potential full-profile soil contamination. Full article
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Review

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21 pages, 4144 KiB  
Review
The Molecular Basis of Organic Chemiluminescence
by Maidileyvis C. Cabello, Fernando H. Bartoloni, Erick L. Bastos and Wilhelm J. Baader
Biosensors 2023, 13(4), 452; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13040452 - 3 Apr 2023
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3253
Abstract
Bioluminescence (BL) and chemiluminescence (CL) are interesting and intriguing phenomena that involve the emission of visible light as a consequence of chemical reactions. The mechanistic basis of BL and CL has been investigated in detail since the 1960s, when the synthesis of several [...] Read more.
Bioluminescence (BL) and chemiluminescence (CL) are interesting and intriguing phenomena that involve the emission of visible light as a consequence of chemical reactions. The mechanistic basis of BL and CL has been investigated in detail since the 1960s, when the synthesis of several models of cyclic peroxides enabled mechanistic studies on the CL transformations, which led to the formulation of general chemiexcitation mechanisms operating in BL and CL. This review describes these general chemiexcitation mechanisms—the unimolecular decomposition of cyclic peroxides and peroxide decomposition catalyzed by electron/charge transfer from an external (intermolecular) or an internal (intramolecular) electron donor—and discusses recent insights from experimental and theoretical investigation. Additionally, some recent representative examples of chemiluminescence assays are given. Full article
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15 pages, 3204 KiB  
Review
Quantitative Analysis of Bioluminescence Optical Signal
by Kazuki Niwa, Hidehiro Kubota, Toshiteru Enomoto, Yoshiro Ichino and Yoshihiro Ohmiya
Biosensors 2023, 13(2), 223; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13020223 - 3 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2893
Abstract
Bioluminescence is light emission based on the luciferin–luciferase enzymatic reaction in living organisms. Optical signals from bioluminescence (BL) reactions are available for bioanalysis and bioreporters for gene expression, in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo bioimaging, immunoassay, and other applications. Although there are [...] Read more.
Bioluminescence is light emission based on the luciferin–luciferase enzymatic reaction in living organisms. Optical signals from bioluminescence (BL) reactions are available for bioanalysis and bioreporters for gene expression, in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo bioimaging, immunoassay, and other applications. Although there are numerous bioanalysis methods based on BL signal measurements, the BL signal is measured as a relative value, and not as an absolute value. Recently, some approaches have been established to completely quantify the BL signal, resulting in, for instance, the redetermination of the quantum yield of the BL reaction and counting the photon number of the BL signal at the single-cell level. Reliable and reproducible understanding of biological events in the bioanalysis and bioreporter fields can be achieved by means of standardized absolute optical signal measurements, which is described in an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) document. Full article
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