Gallium(iii) complexes with polypridyl ligands are shown to kill bulk osteosarcoma cells and osteosarcoma stem cells (OSCs) with up to nanomolar potency.

No abstract

Despite their high sensitivity and their suitability for miniaturization, biosensors are still limited for clinical applications due to the lack of reproducibility and specificity of their detection performance. The design and preparation of sensing surfaces are suspected to be a cause of these limitations. Here, we first present an updated overview of the current state of use of capacitive biosensors in a medical context. Then, we summarize the encountered strategies for the fabrication of capacitive biosensing surfaces. Finally, we describe the characteristics which govern the performance of the sensing surfaces, along with recent developments that were suggested to overcome their main current limitations.

This study reports the development of a sensitive magnetic bead-based enzyme-linked immunoassay (MELISA) for the panreactive detection of the Influenza A virus. The assay combines immunomagnetic beads and biotin-nanoparticle-based detection to quantify a highly conserved viral nucleoprotein in virus lysates. At the capture step, monoclonal antibody-coated magnetic microbeads were used to bind and concentrate the nucleoprotein in samples. The colorimetric detection signal was amplified using biotinylated silica nanoparticles (NP). These nanoparticles were functionalized on the surface with short DNA spacers bearing biotin groups by an automated supported synthesis method performed on nano-on-micro assemblies with a DNA/RNA synthesizer. A biotin-nanoparticle and immunomagnetic bead-based assay was developed. We succeeded in detecting Influenza A viruses directly in the lysis buffer supplemented with 10% saliva to simulate the clinical context. The biotin-nanoparticle amplification step enabled detection limits as low as 3 × 10 3 PFU mL −1 and 4 × 10 4 PFU mL −1 to be achieved for the H1N1 and H3N2 strains respectively. In contrast, a classical ELISA test based on the same antibody sandwich showed detection limit of 1.2 × 10 7 PFU mL −1 for H1N1. The new enhanced MELISA proved to be specific, as no cross-reactivity was found with a porcine respiratory virus (PRRSV).