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Short peptides as biosensor transducers

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Abstract

This review deals with short peptides (up to 50 amino acids) as biomimetic active recognition elements in sensing systems. Peptide-based sensors have been developed in recent years according to different strategies. Synthetic peptides have been designed on the basis of known interactions between single or a few amino acids and targets, with attention being paid to the presence of peptide motifs known to allow intermolecular self-organization of the sensing peptides over the sensor surface. Sensitive and sophisticated sensors have been obtained in this way, but the use of designed peptides is limited by severe difficulties in their in silico design. Short peptides from random phage display have been selected in a random way from large, unfocussed, and often preexisting and commercially available phage display libraries, with no design elements. Such peptides often perform better than antibodies, but they are difficult to select when the target is a small molecule because of the need to immobilize it with considerable modifications of its structure. Artificial, miniaturized receptors have been obtained from the reduction of the known sequence of a natural receptor down to a synthesizable and yet stable one. Alternatively, binding sites have been created over a designed, stable peptide scaffold. Short peptides have also been used as active elements for the detection of their own natural receptors: pathogenic bacteria have been detected with antimicrobial and cell-penetrating peptides, but key challenges such as detection of bacteria in real samples, improved sensitivity, and improved selectivity have to be faced. Peptide substrates have been conjugated to fluorescent quantum dots to obtain disposable sensors for protease activity with high sensitivity. Ferrocene–peptide conjugates have been used for electrochemical sensing of protease activity.

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Abbreviations

ACPP:

activatable cell-penetrating peptide

AMP:

antimicrobial peptide

CPP:

cell-penetrating peptide

ELISA:

enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay

Fc:

ferrocene

FRET:

Förster resonance energy transfer

LOD:

limit of detection

MPA:

mercaptoproprionic acid

PCR:

polymerase chain reaction

QCM:

quartz crystal microbalance

QD:

quantum dot

SAM:

self-assembled monolayer

SNAP-25:

synaptosomal-associated protein 25

SPRI:

surface plasmon resonance imaging

TAT:

transactivator of transcription

TNT:

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Commissariato del Governo nella Regione Friuli—Venezia Giulia (Fondo Trieste) for a grant to S.P. (Grant 597/08 “Piccoli peptidi per lo sviluppo di biosensori”). We are grateful to Chiara Carletti-Vagni for her helpful suggestions during the revision process.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Trieste, via Giorgieri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    Silvia Pavan & Federico Berti

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  1. Silvia Pavan
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  2. Federico Berti
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Correspondence to Federico Berti.

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Published in the topical collection Biomimetic Recognition Elements for Sensing Applications with guest editor María Cruz Moreno-Bondi.

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Pavan, S., Berti, F. Short peptides as biosensor transducers. Anal Bioanal Chem 402, 3055–3070 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5589-8

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