Introduction In the second half of the 90's, the field of biosensors began to be considered as an alternative to be used in the detection of viral diseases and other infectious pathogens with promising performance characteristics. The first successful works in the mission to detect the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) made use of optical and electrochemical transduction methods in combination with molecular biology techniques. In 1997, N. Bianchi et al [1] developed an optical biosensor prototype with strands amplified by hybridization of HIV oligonucleotides, immobilized on their surface with complementary single strands of DNA obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR); said hybridization was detected by changes in the refractive index of the biosensor by means of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), demonstrating a great sensitivity of detection of the virus.
Optical transduction methods often rely on nanotechnology to amplify sensitivity and identify antigenic structures of HIV; nano gold particles (AuNPs) have been used as nano-labels to signal virus DNA markers in prototype diagnostic lateral flow strips based on the RAMAN enhanced surface spectroscopy technique (SERS) [2]. AuNPs have been widely studied in nanotechnology to be functionalized with monoclonal antibodies that neutralize the surface proteins of the virus [3]; in turn, they have been used in colloidal nano conjugates (complexes of liquid phases with suspended nanometric solids) with carboxymethyl cellulose, purified monoclonal antibodies of HIV (Abcam, USA) and protein receptors of the virus (gp41) to be immobilized on the surface of a chip and undergo immunoassays by SPR or by laser light scattering, showing detection levels at the nanomolar level of antigenic proteins [4]; basically, the nanotechnological components used in biosensors have had the function of maximizing the detectability indices by altering the electrical, optical and mechanical characteristics of the sensor in the presence of the viral antigen [5].
Another method in optical biosensors is the application of carbon quantum dots, these present linear results in sensitivity from nanomoles to femtomols when functionalized with capture oligonucleotides that, when hybridized, produce detectable fluorescence by fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) [ 6]. In [7] the design process of a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance is presented, whose bioreceptor element combines double-layer DN...
Optical transduction methods often rely on nanotechnology to amplify sensitivity and identify antigenic structures of HIV; nano gold particles (AuNPs) have been used as nano-labels to signal virus DNA markers in prototype diagnostic lateral flow strips based on the RAMAN enhanced surface spectroscopy technique (SERS) [2]. AuNPs have been widely studied in nanotechnology to be functionalized with monoclonal antibodies that neutralize the surface proteins of the virus [3]; in turn, they have been used in colloidal nano conjugates (complexes of liquid phases with suspended nanometric solids) with carboxymethyl cellulose, purified monoclonal antibodies of HIV (Abcam, USA) and protein receptors of the virus (gp41) to be immobilized on the surface of a chip and undergo immunoassays by SPR or by laser light scattering, showing detection levels at the nanomolar level of antigenic proteins [4]; basically, the nanotechnological components used in biosensors have had the function of maximizing the detectability indices by altering the electrical, optical and mechanical characteristics of the sensor in the presence of the viral antigen [5].
Another method in optical biosensors is the application of carbon quantum dots, these present linear results in sensitivity from nanomoles to femtomols when functionalized with capture oligonucleotides that, when hybridized, produce detectable fluorescence by fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) [ 6]. In [7] the design process of a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance is presented, whose bioreceptor element combines double-layer DN...