TOWARD NEXT GENERATION OF BIOSENSING PLATFORMS: INTEGRATING MOLECULAR RECOGNITION AND NANOSTRUCTUREARCHITECTURES WITHIN OPTO-ELECTRONIC DEVICES

This course falls within the framework of the educational supplementary activities related to the PhD courses in Sciences and Technologies of Bio- and Nano-materials and Chemistry. The primary objective is to implement students' skills integrating and broadening the knowledge in the field of physical and bioanalytical chemistry, and hybrid material sciences, which are the basis for the development of biosensing platforms. The course aims at providing students the concepts underlying the development of biosensors, with emphasis on recent technological advancements in the field. In particular, diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring in view of precision medicine will represent the main field of application.
Particular attention will be given to issues and challenges related to current biosensing platforms and researches devoted to overcoming them by employing specific (nano-)materials, nanostructured architectures, methodologies.
Newly developed receptors and labelling systems will be discussed in-depth.
Electrochemical and optical techniques will be considered in view of developing next-generation devices capable of acquiring two independent outputs or enabling a simultaneous detection strategy.

1. Knowledge and understanding
i) Acquire knowledge concerning the development of biosensing platforms and related issues with respect to specific applications
ii) Acquire knowledge of the basic principles of electrochemical, optical and bioanalytical techniques, employed in biosensing.
iii) Understanding the innovative role that nanotechnologies and nanomaterials are playing in the development of biosensing platform.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
i) Understanding which methodologies should be taken into account to optimize the use of biomolecules as analytical reagents to devise a reliable biosensor.
ii) Capability to evaluate which bioanalytical method is the most suitable to solve a specific bioanalytical problem, such as the recognition and the quantitative determination of molecules of biological and medical interest.

3. Ability to judge (depending on the in-depth analysis of the subject matter during the course)
i) Evaluate comparatively the effectiveness of different analytical strategies to choose the most suitable method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of biomolecules or molecules of biological and medical interest.
ii) Develop critical skills in the evaluation of the analytical performances of the methods based on (or devised for) molecules of biological, biotechnological and medical interest.

4. Communication skills
i) Learn the use of the correct scientific terminology of the physical and bioanalytical chemistry.
ii) Improve the oral communication skills by discussing (5-10 min) with the other students and the teacher a scientific article related with the course and suitably chosen through bibliographic and electronic sources (see next point 5).

5. Learning skills
i) Demonstrate to have acquired the principles and concepts on the topics covered by the teacher during the class by implementing the learning process through bibliographic and electronic sources.

There are no requirements other than basic concepts of physical chemistry (thermodynamics and kinetcs) and biochemistry. Anyway the course is developed to provide the student all necessary tools to understand all the topics discussed during the lectures.

Part I
- Biosensors in brief: fields of applications (with particular emphasis on precision medicine, while considering both diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring), analytes, receptors and transductors.
- Receptors: enzymes, antibodies, nanobodies, aptamers, peptides.
- Labeling systems (when necessary): redox and fluorescent probes.
- Electrochemical methods: recalling working principles of the main technique (in particular, amperometry and voltammetry).
- Introduction to electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL).
- Optical techniques: surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fluorescence.
- Materials employed as transducers or labeling systems: gold (nano)film, nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials (e.g. graphene, nanotubes, carbon dots), silicon nanowires, conductive glass.

Part II
- Engineering a device: sensors’ array (analyte quantification: single or multiplexing detection?), sample volume and sample pre-treatment (e.g. whole blood), microfluidics.
- Sensor arrays by photolithography and electron- beam lithography.
- Screen-printed electrodes (SPEs).
- Field-effect transistors (FETs).
- Coupling techniques: can optical and electrochemical systems work together, perhaps simultaneously?
- Conclusions and perspectives: what next?

J. Janata. Principles of Chemical Sensors. 2nd ed., Dordrecht: Springer, 2009.
A. J. Bard, L. R. Faulkner. Electrochemical Methods. Fundamentals and Applications. 2nd ed. New York City: Wiley, 2000.
A. J. Bard. Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence. New York City: Marcel Dekker, 2004.
N. Sojic. Analytical Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence. London: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020
D. L. Nelson, M. M. Cox. Lehninger – Principles of Biochemistry. 7th ed., New York City: Macmillan Education, 2017.

Lecture notes.

Oral exam. The oral exam consists of a series of questions, which the student must answer to, thus proving her/his knowldge and understanding of the topics covered by the course.
The oral exam generally lasts approx. 30 minutes, depending on the clarity and appropriateness of the answers to the questions.

The teaching is organized in lectures.

1. Sustainability.
The use of biosensors for analytical purposes is certainly more sustainable than classical methods of analysis since it allows: i) to drastically reducing the use of toxic and polluting reagents; ii) to lowering the volumes of both samples and reagents (and, therefore, reducing the cost and problems related to waste disposal); iii) to using mild operative conditions (atmospheric pressure and ambient or near-ambient temperature). Moreover, the use of low cost instrumentation allows the application of the methodologies presented herein to improve the quality of health control in view of a point-of-care test, also in the developing countries.

2. Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments: Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding supportservices and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). In the case of disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters), please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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