Wearable biosensor for electrochemical analysis of protein biomarkers in sweat

• Grant number: 24/16548-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Laís Canniatti Brazaca
• Grantee: Iana Vitória de Souza Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/10141-2 - Novel wearable biosensors for non-invasive analysis of protein biomarkers, AP.JP

Abstract

Recently, wearable biosensors have received considerable attention due to their ability to quantify different analytes in real time in a simple and non-invasive manner, providing important information to the areas of health, sports, food and safety. Such devices, however, are commonly limited to the detection of electrolytes, electrochemically active molecules or small molecules such as glucose, ethanol and lactate. Therefore, despite the great clinical interest in this class, wearable biosensors capable of analyzing specific protein biomarkers are not yet widely described in the literature. Thus, we propose the development of wearable biosensors based on the adaptation of the lateral flow technique for the analysis of protein biomarkers in sweat in a simple, fast and low-cost manner using the electrochemical technique. Devices based on the PDMS polymer containing integrated carbon electrodes will be constructed. Such devices will be adhered to the skin, detecting specific analytes of interest in sweat using labeled antibodies in a sandwich-type system. The protein dermicidin was chosen as a model analyte due to its high concentration in sweat (1-10 ug/ml) and great clinical relevance, being reported as a biomarker for several types of cancer. Since the developed platforms can be adjusted for the detection of different proteins from the selection of appropriate antibodies, it is expected that such devices will considerably expand the number of biomolecules that can be analyzed by wearable devices in sweat, generating great impact mainly in the health area. (AU)