Use of nano-particles in biosensing

New developments in biofunctionalisation of nanomaterials are a driving force for innovation in bionanotechnology applications. Nanoparticles (NP’s) functionalised with a layer of biomolecules such as proteins and DNA, play a central role in the field of life sciences for their diagnostic and therapeutic properties. They act as miniaturised biosensors or drug delivery vehicles. The properties of the bioconjugated nanomaterials depend both on the physical and material properties of the nanomaterial (nanorods, quantum dots, branched nanoparticles …) both also on the biomolecules attached to its surface (enzymes, antibodies, DNA, etc.) In all cases it is important to accurately characterize the properties of the bioconjugated nanomaterial. To maximise the efficiency of the NP's, the conjugation chemistry and coating have to be optimised for every material, shape or size of the NP and every type of biomolecule. We present a robust set of techniques for the im-mobilisation of different bio-molecules on NP’s and stress some points of attention specifically for the use in bio-assays e.g., purification or biosens-ing. Finally we will present NP's applied in DNA and antibody based biosensing, designed for lab-on-a-chip purposes.

Publication year:2009

Accessibility:Open