Themed collection Analyst HOT Articles 2022

An overview of recent progress in electrochemiluminescence microscopy analysis of single cells classified according to different ECL routes, namely the oxidative-reduction, low oxidation potential, catalytic and direct oxidation routes.

Microfluidic platforms with 3D tumour spheroid culture provide platforms to study the multi-cellular interactions and external stimuli in the complex tumour microenvironment.

This tutorial review presents the most important practical considerations for sample preparation, instrument set-up, image acquisition and data analysis to obtain reproducible SRS measurements.

SERS for antibiotic resistance diagnosis.

Applications of AIEgens in biosensing, disease diagnosis, and drug release.

The possibilities of virus identification, including SARS-CoV-2, by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry are discussed in this review.

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approaches to characterize the complex intracellular chemistry of organoids are reviewed, expanding the field of organoid research.

This review summarises the recent major developments of the key subsystems for microfluidic flow cytometry and its achievements in blood-based biomarker analysis.

Recent progress in biointerface research has highlighted the role of antifouling functionalizable coatings in the development of advanced biosensors for point-of-care applications dealing with real-world complex samples.

This review focuses on the instrumental development and potential applications of Tandem-Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (tTIMS/MS) for protein structure elucidation.

Depletion-free molecular ink deposition with accurate volume control allows for the fabrication of droplet-based bioanalytical assays.

Combining affinity-based nanoswitches with state-dependent readout platforms allows for continuous biosensing and acquisition of real-time information about biochemical processes occurring in the environment of interest.

Electrochemical (bio)sensors are considered clean and powerful analytical tools capable of converting an electrochemical reaction between analytes and electrodes into a quantitative signal.

Homogeneously radical-grafted SiO₂ NPs were effectively self-polarized and represented enhanced ²⁹Si signal amplification via DNP.

Ultra-thin silica-guarded nanoflares (Au@SiO₂ NFs) are constructed for high-fidelity live cell microRNA imaging by avoiding the interference of intracellular biothiols.

A bioluminescent probe NQO1-Luc toward NQO1 was constructed, which exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity toward NQO1 in vitro and adequate capability of distinguishing NQO1-overexpressing tumors in vivo.

The first fluorescent probe targeting MGO in lysosomes was developed for the detection of intracellular and extracellular sources of methylglyoxal.

Nitric acid concentration plays an important role in quantifying very low levels of uranium on PEDOT-PSS/GC electrodes. Its lower acidity (0.05 M) favours free UO₂²⁺ which complexes with PEDOT-PSS and thereby increases the detection limit.

A portable point-of-care testing (POCT) device based on an aptamer-engineered extended-gate field-effect transistor (EG-FET) was unveiled for therapeutic monitoring of the drug methotrexate.

To improve the accuracy of PEC sensing. We developed a split-type “turn-off” PEC biosensor based on spatially-extended 3D magnetic DNA nanodevices with high-order DNA amplifiers for sensitive and reliable detection of miRNAs in cancer cells.

This paper presented the possibility of the in situ tuning of the LSPR properties of AuNRs@mSiO₂ by Hg deposition via electrochemical potential manipulations without the disturbance of the structural variations of AuNR cores.

A PEGylated water-soluble CO probe is synthesized, achieving the detection of CO with high intensity color change and fluorescence enhancement.

An extended-gate-type organic field-effect transistor immunosensor has successfully detected oxytocin at ppt levels in human saliva with high recovery rates (96–102%).

This study introduces label-free, automated ovarian tissue cell recognition using O-PTIR imaging, offering 10× better resolution than FTIR. It outperforms FTIR, achieving 0.98 classification accuracy. This work aids early ovarian cancer diagnosis.

SO₂ is not only a new potential gas signaling molecule, but also an antioxidant and antioxidant metabolite, which plays an important role in biophysiological and pathological processes.

In this CRET readout, the CL reaction of TCPO–H₂O₂ was used to replace the exciting light source of the FRET readout, which makes the instrument simpler and easier to miniaturize.

We report an isotopologue of the trityl radical OX071, labeled with ¹³C at the central carbon highly sensitive to molecular tumbling.

An autofluorescence-free immunosensing platform was designed to determine prostate-specific antigen based on the photoluminescence of CePO₄:Tb nanocrystals.

Bundle-like structures decorated with Ag nanoparticles can be used as active floating SERS substrates with abundant 3D hot spots for highly sensitive detection of uric acid based on capillary forces that drive target molecules into the hot spots.

A DSN-IEXPAR method is developed for the specific detection of fusion transcripts.

The AuPd/UiO-66-NH₂/GN composites were successfully synthesized. And they were used to modify a glassy carbon electrode to construct a novel electrochemical sensor for sensitive dopamine detection.

A sensing strategy for the ultrasensitive detection of HBV in nanopores was constructed by digestion of elements of DNA cubes and the use of CRISPR–Cas12a technology. Coupling with PCR preamplification technology enabled HBV-positive or -negative classification.

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with uric acid cavities increases the selectivity of uric acid measurement in the presence of dopamine as an interferent.

A PortAbs based pathogen nucleic acid detection system using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) and a cyanine dye, DiSc₂(5). The shift is measured of the absorbance induced by binding of a PNA probe to a complementary DNA strand using a portable two-color absorption system.

Mixed valence Ce-MOF (MVCM) with enhanced cataltical activity was synthesized by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) microplasma, and a colorimetric platform of oxidase-like MVCM was established for DA detection.

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has undergone major improvements in recent years which have led to reduction of the analysis time, higher spatial resolution, and better sensitivity.

In the rapid development of artificial nanomaterials comparable to biological enzymes, we propose herein a novel concept for the construction of functional materials inspired from chemical evolution.

Tyrosine-capped AuNPs decrease the interaction between targets and AuNPs, presenting better robustness than traditional Cit-AuNPs. Utilizing the superior features, a label-free aptasensor is developed for marine toxin detection for the first time.

Based on the ClO⁻-triggered chlorination reaction and the subsequent pK_a decrease, a two-photon ratiometric ClO⁻ fluorescent probe was designed.

A microbial quality prediction model for early warning of cucumber spoilage is proposed based on the fluorescence information of the cucumber storeroom gas.

The electrochemically functionalized graphene nanosheets (EGS) possesses more oxygen-containing groups and higher defect level, showing superior electrochemical sensing performance.

A primer-free, sensitive assay has been developed to detect polynucleotide kinase (PNK) activity. This proposed method provides a promising platform for PNK activity monitoring and inhibition screening for drug discovery and clinical treatment.

A dual amplification fluorescence strategy was developed for the ultrasensitive detection of Dam MTase activity based on strand displacement amplification coupled with rolling circle amplification.

A Quenchbody immunosensor for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein was developed, and 5% PEG6000 significantly improved its response speed and sensitivity. Positive and negative groups of COVID-19 clinical samples were distinguished.

Monophosphorylated phosphoinositides doubly deprotonated ions are subjected to sequential gas-phase ion/ion reactions. By utilizing ion/ion reaction products and performing kinetic experiments, dissociation rates are retrieved.

A novel traveling surface acoustic wave (TSAW)-based manipulation device that allows for automated and high-throughput maze-solving manipulation of microparticles inside complex round-shaped and square-shaped maze chambers.

Graphdiyne couples with an exonuclease III-assisted amplification strategy to construct a superior-performance self-powered biosensor based on enzymatic biofuel cells for highly sensitive detection of the tumour marker miRNA-21.

To date, several smart stents have been proposed to continuously detect biological cues, which is essential for tracking patients’ critical vital signs and therapy.

The centrifugal microfluidic system for whole blood creatinine detection.

We present a deep clustering-based MS data visualization strategy (MCnebula), integrated with the influential open-source automatic MS annotation platform SIRIUS and in vivo and in vitro methods, to screen and validate potential lead compounds from natural products.

Electrochemically active oxides play important roles in the fabrication of electrochemical sensing platforms, in which they can be utilized as electrochemical probes or catalysts in electrochemical reactions.

A one-step method was developed for the fusion gene assay with high sensitivity and specificity by a fusion-site anchored stem-loop primer to initiate isothermal amplification.

A sensitive sandwiched electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was built for the detection of cTnI. The ECL immunosensor had a low detection limit (2.90 fg mL⁻¹) and wide detection range (10 pg mL⁻¹ to 100 ng mL⁻¹).

A fast colorimetric sensor array is constructed based on the enhanced peroxidase-like activity of nickel cobalt Prussian blue analogue-MoS₂ nanoboxes (PBA-MoS₂) for the detection of reducing substances containing the catechol structure.

This work reports an ion-selective electrode-based potentiometric immunoassay for AFP detection coupling rolling cycle amplification with silver nanoclusters.

Ultrasensitive DNA Amplification Reaction (UDAR) provides a unique biphasic fluorescence output derived from a second phase switch-like burst in reaction products. We quantified the two main reaction products and present a mathematical model that can reproduce the reaction output, including the nonlinear autocatalytic product burst in the second phase.

Monitoring drug concentration in blood and reflecting this in the dosage are crucial for safe and effective drug treatment.

Direct and label-free analysis of clinical serum samples using slippery liquid-infused porous-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SLIPSERS) enables the rapid non-invasive identification of lung cancer.

A bacteria-imprinted polythiophene film (BIF)-based impedimetric sensor was proposed for the rapid and sensitive detection of S. aureus. A significant improvement is the reduced time for both BIF fabrication (15 min) and bacterial capturing (10 min).

The lysosomal targeted ratiometric fluorescent BD probe reveals excellent application performance in the fields of selective monitoring of the lysosome pH of living cells, real-time dynamic monitoring of autophagy, and document anti-counterfeiting.

Deconstruction of the heterogeneity of surface marker-dependent exosome subpopulations by the Sub-ExoProfile chip.

This work proposes a handy imaging sensor array based on the phase transformation from CsPbBr₃ to CsPb₂Br₅ for highly sensitive and rapid detection of the water content in ethanol.

A JEDI NMR pulse experiment incorporating relaxation, diffusion and J-modulation peak editing was implemented at a low field (80 MHz) spectrometer system to quantify two recently discovered plasma markers of SARS-CoV-2 infection and general inflammation.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a direct energy source in cells and the core of the biochemical system, and is closely related to various metabolic activities in living organisms.

The HPLC-SERS hyphenated system exhibited the complementary capability of on-line separation and continuous structural identification. It was extended to the application in identifying the illegally added hypoglycemic drugs in the practical dietary supplements.

An on-chip strategy to analyze the allergens existing in myofibrillar proteins of seafood matrices using anti-human IgE-functionalized magnetic beads (MBs) has the potential to be applied in blood tests for food allergies with a single drop of blood.

Cell mechanotransduction plays an important role in vascular regulation and disease development.

The multifunctional CuWO₄ NPs were prepared and exhibit large specific surface area, good conductivity and excellent peroxidase-like activity, which was exploited for electrochemical and colorimetric dual-strategy biosensing of glucose.

Insoluble carbonaceous deposits were grown in internal combustion engine components and interrogated by OrbiSIMS depth profiling, and we uncovered the composition and proposed time resolved growth mechanisms of these materials.

Rapid, simple, inexpensive, accurate and sensitive point-of-care (POC) detection of viral pathogens in bodily fluids is a vital component of controlling the spread of infectious diseases.