Photonics-Based Biosensors for Environmental, Food Safety and Biomedical Applications

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical and Photonic Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 18735

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Applied Physics and Photonics Department, Brussels Photonics B-PHOT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: photonics; optical sensors; optical spectroscopy (UV-Vis-NIR absorption/fluorescence and Raman); SERS; food quality and safety; agricultural biosensors; water monitoring; optical-based diagnostics; cell and tissue sensing; lab-on-chip; organ-on-a-chip; point-of-care
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human health is intrinsically linked to a healthy planet, requiring a rich biodiversity and well-balanced ecosystems. We need clean air to breathe, healthy soils and insects to grow crops, healthy animals and plants for human nutrition, and clean water resources. Ironically, it is us humans who have a severe impact on the decline of biodiversity and ecosystems. Continued urbanization has drastically increased the level of air pollution, damaging plant and tree life needed to help to regulate air quality. Growing human populations have also resulted in more people living in close contact with animals, providing more opportunities for diseases to pass between the two groups. The number of livestock animals has increased with the growth in the world’s population, leading to intensive farming practices, including the overconsumption of antibiotics, potentially leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These bacteria can cause foodborne infections via contaminated meat, milk or eggs. Microplastics and metals are ubiquitous in the environment and in marine water.

Thanks to technological advances in materials, sources, and detectors, together with recent progress in modeling and design and data processing, photonic biosensors are under extensive development. These highly sensitive and selective biosensors, which are in many cases remotely applicable and often small and inexpensive, frequently combine multidisciplinary research.

The goal of this Special Issue is to invite state-of-the-art research papers that deal with any type of photonics-based biosensors for the monitoring of the health status of our planet’s ecosystem. Additionally, contributions on novel methods or techniques potentially leading to improved photonics-based biosensors are welcomed. A preference is given to non-human environmental (air, soils, water) and biological (plants, trees, crops, animals) elements. We solicit original papers of unpublished and completed research that are not currently under review. Keywords include but are not limited to the following: photonics-based biosensors, novel methods or techniques, environmental monitoring, soil monitoring, air monitoring, water monitoring, detection of hazardous materials, agriculture, food monitoring, food processing, veterinary sensors for pet and farm animals, organ-on-a-chip as a replacement of animal models. More specifically, we are interested in:

  • Photonics-based biosensors, novel methods or techniques for environmental monitoring (air, soils, water, detection of hazardous materials, etc.);
  • Photonics-based biosensors, novel methods or techniques with applications in the agriculture domain or in food processing;
  • Photonics-based biosensors, novel methods or techniques with applications in the veterinary domain, including pet and farm animals;
  • Photonics-based biosensors, novel methods or techniques that enhance the wellbeing of animals (for example, organ-on-chip sensors as replacement of animal models).

Prof. Dr. Wendy Meulebroeck
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • photonics-based sensors
  • spectroscopy
  • environmental monitoring
  • food quality and safety
  • agricultural biosensors
  • cell and tissue sensing
  • organ-on-a-chip
  • lab-on-a-chip
  • point-of-care
  • in vitro sensing

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2031 KiB  
Article
Detection of Dibutyl Phthalate in Surface Water by Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay
by Liliya I. Mukhametova, Madina R. Karimova, Olga G. Zharikova, Andrey V. Pirogov, Valentina V. Levkina, Ekaterina S. Chichkanova, Liqiang Liu, Chuanlai Xu and Sergei A. Eremin
Biosensors 2023, 13(12), 1005; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13121005 - 29 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1797
Abstract
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is widely used as a plasticizer in the production of polymeric materials to give them flexibility, strength and extensibility. However, due to its negative impact on human health, in particular reproductive functions and fetal development, the content of DBP must [...] Read more.
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is widely used as a plasticizer in the production of polymeric materials to give them flexibility, strength and extensibility. However, due to its negative impact on human health, in particular reproductive functions and fetal development, the content of DBP must be controlled in food and the environment. The present study aims to develop a sensitive, fast and simple fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) using monoclonal antibodies derived against DBP (MAb-DBP) for its detection in open waters. New conjugates of DBP with various fluorescein derivatives were obtained and characterized: 5-aminomethylfluorescein (AMF) and dichlorotriazinylaminofluorescein (DTAF). The advantages of using the DBP-AMF conjugate in the FPIA method are shown, the kinetics of binding of this chemical with antibodies are studied, the analysis is optimized, and the concentration of monoclonal antibodies is selected for sensitivity analysis—16 nM. The calibration dependence of the fluorescence polarization signal for the detection of DBP was obtained. The observed IC50 (DBP concentration at which a 50% decrease in the fluorescence polarization signal occurs, 40 ng/mL) and the limit of detection (LOD, 7.5 ng/mL) values were improved by a factor of 45 over the previously described FPIA using polyclonal antibodies. This technique was tested by the recovery method, and the high percentage of DBP discovery in water ranged from 85 to 110%. Using the developed method, real water samples from Lake Onega were tested, and a good correlation was shown between the results of the determination of DBP by the FPIA method and GC-MS. Thus, the FPIA method developed in this work can be used to determine DBP in open-water reservoirs. Full article
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17 pages, 4205 KiB  
Article
Label-Free and Bioluminescence-Based Nano-Biosensor for ATP Detection
by Elham Karimi, Maryam Nikkhah and Saman Hosseinkhani
Biosensors 2022, 12(11), 918; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12110918 - 24 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3444
Abstract
A bioluminescence-based assay for ATP can measure cell viability. Higher ATP concentration indicates a higher number of living cells. Thus, it is necessary to design an ATP sensor that is low-cost and easy to use. Gold nanoparticles provide excellent biocompatibility for enzyme immobilization. [...] Read more.
A bioluminescence-based assay for ATP can measure cell viability. Higher ATP concentration indicates a higher number of living cells. Thus, it is necessary to design an ATP sensor that is low-cost and easy to use. Gold nanoparticles provide excellent biocompatibility for enzyme immobilization. We investigated the effect of luciferase proximity with citrate-coated gold, silver, and gold–silver core–shell nanoparticles, gold nanorods, and BSA–Au nanoclusters. The effect of metal nanoparticles on the activity of luciferases was recorded by the luminescence assay, which was 3–5 times higher than free enzyme. The results showed that the signal stability in presence of nanoparticles improved and was reliable up to 6 h for analytes measurements. It has been suggested that energy is mutually transferred from luciferase bioluminescence spectra to metal nanoparticle surface plasmons. In addition, we herein report the 27-base DNA aptamer for adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) as a suitable probe for the ATP biosensor based on firefly luciferase activity and AuNPs. Due to ATP application in the firefly luciferase reaction, the increase in luciferase activity and improved detection limits may indicate more stability or accessibility of ATP in the presence of nanoparticles. The bioluminescence intensity increased with the ATP concentration up to 600 µM with a detection limit of 5 µM for ATP. Full article
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20 pages, 8050 KiB  
Article
A SiPM-Enabled Portable Delayed Fluorescence Photon Counting Device: Climatic Plant Stress Biosensing
by William J. Pietro and Ozzy Mermut
Biosensors 2022, 12(10), 817; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12100817 - 2 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3471
Abstract
A portable and sensitive time-resolved biosensor for capturing very low intensity light emission is a promising avenue to study plant delayed fluorescence. These weak emissions provide insight on plant health and can be useful in plant science as well as in the development [...] Read more.
A portable and sensitive time-resolved biosensor for capturing very low intensity light emission is a promising avenue to study plant delayed fluorescence. These weak emissions provide insight on plant health and can be useful in plant science as well as in the development of accurate feedback indicators for plant growth and yield in applications of agricultural crop cultivation. A field-based delayed fluorescence device is also desirable to enable monitoring of plant stress response to climate change. Among basic techniques for the detection of rapidly fluctuating low intensity light is photon counting. Despite its vast utility, photon counting techniques often relying on photomultiplier tube (PMT) technology, having restricted use in agricultural and environment measurements of plant stress outside of the laboratory setting, mainly due to the prohibitive cost of the equipment, high voltage nature, and the complexity of its operation. However, recent development of the new generation solid-state silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) single photon avalanche diode array has enabled the availability of high quantum efficiency, easy-to-operate, compact, photon counting systems which are not constrained to sophisticated laboratories, and are accessible owing to their low-cost. In this contribution, we have conceived, fabricated and validated a novel SiPM-based photon counting device with integrated plug-and-play excitation LED, all housed inside a miniaturized sample chamber to record weak delayed fluorescence lifetime response from plant leaves subjected to varying temperature condition and drought stress. Findings from our device show that delayed fluorescence reports on the inactivation to the plant’s photosystem II function in response to unfavorable acute environmental heat and cold shock stress as well as chronic water deprivation. Results from our proof-of-concept miniaturized prototype demonstrate a new, simple and effective photon counting instrument is achieved, one which can be deployed in-field to rapidly and minimally invasively assess plant physiological growth and health based on rapid, ultra-weak delayed fluorescence measurements directly from a plant leaf. Full article
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14 pages, 2326 KiB  
Article
Ultrasensitive and Rapid Detection of N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) Using Fiber Optic Nanogold-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
by Han-Long Liu, Yen-Ta Tseng, Mei-Chu Lai and Lai-Kwan Chau
Biosensors 2022, 12(9), 746; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12090746 - 9 Sep 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2680
Abstract
The N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is considered an important blood biomarker for heart failure. Herein, we report about a fiber optic nanogold-linked immunosorbent assay (FONLISA) method for the rapid, sensitive, and low-cost detection of NT-proBNP. The method is based on a sandwich [...] Read more.
The N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is considered an important blood biomarker for heart failure. Herein, we report about a fiber optic nanogold-linked immunosorbent assay (FONLISA) method for the rapid, sensitive, and low-cost detection of NT-proBNP. The method is based on a sandwich immunoassay approach that uses two monoclonal NT-proBNP antibodies, a capture antibody (AbC), and a detection antibody (AbD). AbD is conjugated to a free gold nanoparticle (AuNP) to form the free AuNP@AbD conjugate, and AbC is immobilized on an unclad segment of an optical fiber. The detection of analyte (A), in this case NT-proBNP, is based on the signal change due to the formation of an AuNP@AbD–A–AbC complex on the fiber core surface, where a green light transmitted through the optical fiber will decrease in intensity due to light absorption by AuNPs via the localized surface plasmon resonance effect. This method provides a wide linear dynamic range of 0.50~5000 pg·mL−1 and a limit of detection of 0.058 pg·mL−1 for NT-proBNP. Finally, the method exhibits good correlation (r = 0.979) with the commercial central laboratory-based electrochemiluminescent immunoassay method that uses a Roche Cobas e411 instrument. Hence, our method is potentially a suitable tool for point-of-care testing. Full article
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Review

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31 pages, 4974 KiB  
Review
Environmental Monitoring: A Comprehensive Review on Optical Waveguide and Fiber-Based Sensors
by Muhammad A. Butt, Grigory S. Voronkov, Elizaveta P. Grakhova, Ruslan V. Kutluyarov, Nikolay L. Kazanskiy and Svetlana N. Khonina
Biosensors 2022, 12(11), 1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12111038 - 17 Nov 2022
Cited by 47 | Viewed by 6015
Abstract
Globally, there is active development of photonic sensors incorporating multidisciplinary research. The ultimate objective is to develop small, low-cost, sensitive, selective, quick, durable, remote-controllable sensors that are resistant to electromagnetic interference. Different photonic sensor designs and advances in photonic frameworks have shown the [...] Read more.
Globally, there is active development of photonic sensors incorporating multidisciplinary research. The ultimate objective is to develop small, low-cost, sensitive, selective, quick, durable, remote-controllable sensors that are resistant to electromagnetic interference. Different photonic sensor designs and advances in photonic frameworks have shown the possibility to realize these capabilities. In this review paper, the latest developments in the field of optical waveguide and fiber-based sensors which can serve for environmental monitoring are discussed. Several important topics such as toxic gas, water quality, indoor environment, and natural disaster monitoring are reviewed. Full article
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