Development of miniaturized and disposable (bio)sensors for monitoring zoonotic diseases

• Grant number: 23/08858-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso
• Grantee: Nathalia Oezau Gomes
• Host Institution: Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/22214-6 - Towards a convergence of technologies: from sensing and biosensing to information visualization and machine learning for data analysis in clinical diagnosis, AP.TEM

Abstract

Zoonoses currently represent an imminent risk to public health. Among them, tuberculosis, brucellosis and bovine leptospirosis stand out, which are bacterial infections that can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of contaminated meat and milk. In this project we will develop miniaturized, disposable and low-cost biosensors for detecting Microbacterium bovis, Brucella abortus and Leptospira spp in saliva and bovine milk samples. The biosensors will be fabricated using the screen-printing technique. Carbon nanomaterials carbon spherical shells and carbon-coated silver nanocables) will be incorporated into the sensor's detection area to increase detection sensitivity, with selectivity guaranteed with the immobilization of antibodies. Carbon-based nanomaterials will be synthesized using environmentally friendly routes without generating toxic waste using only water and glucose in the case of carbon spherical shells, while carbon-coated silver nanocables will be synthesized using water, glucose, phosphate silver and silver chloride, with a hydrothermal route of synthesis. These nanomaterials will be incorporated into the detection area and covered with polymers with the aim of creating a suitable chemical environment for immobilizing antibodies without compromising their active sites. The antibodies will be covalently linked to the polymers using the strategy that provides the best analytical performance. After defining the optimized modification conditions and the best matrices for covalent binding of the antibody, the stability of the biomolecules to be immobilized will be verified on the electrode surface. Surface phenomena at the molecular level related to the biosensing will be investigated using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The data generated in this project will be processed using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Finally, as biosensors can be produced on a large scale, and measurements are made on portable devices, on rural properties we hope to contribute with a technology that allows the monitoring of tuberculosis, brucellosis and bovine Leptospirosis, with the possibility of extension to other zoonoses, and thus improve the prospects for diagnosing infectious diseases.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GOMES, NATHALIA O.; CALEGARO, MARCELO L.; MATTOSO, LUIZ HENRIQUE C.; OLIVEIRA, OSVALDO N.; MACHADO, SERGIO A. S.; RAYMUNDO-PEREIRA, PAULO A.. Carbon Spherical Shells Functionalized with Nitrogen as Sustainable Electrochemical Materials for Rapid Detection of Diclofenac in Saliva, Urine, Water, and Tablets. ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS, v. N/A, p. 11-pg., 2024-12-02. (23/09685-8, 16/01919-6, 20/09587-8, 23/08858-6, 23/07686-7, 22/02164-0, 18/22214-6)