Graphene: The Missing Piece for Cancer Diagnosis?

Abstract

This paper reviews recent advances in graphene-based biosensors development in order to obtain smaller and more portable devices with better performance for earlier cancer detection. In fact, the potential of Graphene for sensitive detection and chemical/biological free-label applications results from its exceptional physicochemical properties such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, aspect-ratio, optical transparency and remarkable mechanical and chemical stability. Herein we start by providing a general overview of the types of graphene and its derivatives, briefly describing the synthesis procedure and main properties. It follows the reference to different routes to engineer the graphene surface for sensing applications with organic biomolecules and nanoparticles for the development of advanced biosensing platforms able to detect/quantify the characteristic cancer biomolecules in biological fluids or overexpressed on cancerous cells surface with elevated sensitivity, selectivity and stability. We then describe the application of graphene in optical imaging methods such as photoluminescence and Raman imaging, electrochemical sensors for enzymatic biosensing, DNA sensing, and immunosensing. The bioquantification of cancer biomarkers and cells is finally discussed, particularly electrochemical methods such as voltammetry and amperometry which are generally adopted transducing techniques for the development of graphene based sensors for biosensing due to their simplicity, high sensitivity and low-cost. To close, we discuss the major challenges that graphene based biosensors must overcome in order to reach the necessary standards for the early detection of cancer biomarkers by providing reliable information about the patient disease stage.

Suspended graphene oxide nanoparticle for accelerated multilayer osteoblast attachment

“…GO sheets strongly hydrophilic, causing them to swell readily and disperse in water . Noncovalent bonds between GO and others molecules are mainly governed by hydrogen bonding or electrostatic interactions due to the high electronegativity character of its surface . The oxygenous groups in GO introduce electronegative and charged regions to the surfaces and enable the formation of hydrogen bonds with growth factors and proteins.…”

The Roadmap of Graphene‐Based Optical Biochemical Sensors

“…Many forms of graphene and its derivatives are widely used in biochemical sensing, including chemical vapor deposition (CVD)‐grown graphene, graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) . CVD‐grown graphene offers large area film with excellent specific detection area, low noise, and the ability to develop multi‐optical sensor arrays.…”

“…rGO has a high degree of defects in the carbon sp 2 lattice and residual oxygen content, therefore it is more electrochemically active than any other graphene family member, offering great potential for the development of electrochemical sensing, especially of protein, DNA, and other biochemical molecules. GQDs are also well suited for biochemical sensing applications due to their ultra small size (3–20 nm), impressive optoelectronic properties, highly stable aqueous colloidal suspensions, ease of functionalization, large specific area, and tunable fluorescence …”

“…This article comprehensively and critically reviews the emerging graphene optical biochemical sensors. We first elaborate on their opto‐electronic properties, fabrication, numerical modeling and simulation and then review various sensing applications, including single‐cell detection, neural imaging and optogenetics, colorimetric multifunctional sensors, cancer diagnosis, protein and DNA sensing, and gas sensing . Finally, the roadmap of current and future trends for graphene‐based optical biochemical sensors is discussed.…”

Graphene based biosensors—Accelerating medical diagnostics to new-dimensions

“…14 There are already several excellent reviews focusing on the synthesis, properties, and biosensing performance of graphene and its derivatives for biomedical applications. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Yet many obvious questions arise if we think of a perfect graphene-based biosensor that needs to be discussed: What makes graphene a sensitive detector for biological molecules? Does the method of production and assembly of graphene affects its biosensing performance?…”