Current progress in the in-vivo continuous disease monitoring

Biosensors, analytical devices that report biological or chemical signals proportional to the quantity of analytes, are developed in hopes of informing real-time clinical intervention. In the past decade, the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) in tracking diabetes progression has seen remarkable promise; it remains the most successful example of improving treatment outcomes by monitoring a small-molecule metabolite.

Unfortunately, there are no equivalent biosensors on the market for monitoring peptides and protein biomarkers present in low concentrations. In their review, Wilson et al. highlight the central challenge in producing such a device, which typically employs affinity-type interactions.

“There’s a trade-off with highly specific recognition elements: the tighter the binding to the molecule, the harder it is to regenerate the binding site and allow for re-binding,” said author Koji Sode. “Both are necessary properties to realize in-vivo continuous monitoring of biomarkers.”

The authors discuss cases where researchers specifically engineered biosensing elements to overcome challenges associated with affinity-type interactions. They then examine insulin monitoring as a case study for device translation, summarizing current progress and illuminating its potential advantages.

As the limitations of translating today’s molecular recognition elements become increasingly apparent, the authors plan to explore new biomolecules.

“Adjunct technologies and even entirely new detection approaches have progressed, yet we as a community still have not seen a successful translation of any continuous biosensors outside of CGMs,” Sode said. “This leads us to believe that we and others will begin to shift focus towards the development of new, interesting biomolecules, which will hopefully begin to bridge this gap in technology.”

Source: “In vivo continuous monitoring of peptides and proteins: Challenges and opportunities,” by Ellie Wilson, David Probst, and Koji Sode, Applied Physics Reviews (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0154637 .

This paper is part of the Materials and Technologies for Bioimaging and Biosensing Collection, learn more here .