z-logo
Premium
Cell‐surface sensors: lighting the cellular environment
Author(s) -
Ali Md Monsur,
Kang DongKu,
Tsang Kyle,
Fu Moyu,
Karp Jeffrey M.,
Zhao Weian
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1939-0041
pISSN - 1939-5116
DOI - 10.1002/wnan.1179
Subject(s) - aptamer , cell , nanotechnology , cell signaling , synthetic biology , biology , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , signal transduction , materials science , genetics
Cell‐surface sensors are powerful tools to elucidate cell functions including cell signaling, metabolism, and cell‐to‐cell communication. These sensors not only facilitate our understanding in basic biology but also advance the development of effective therapeutics and diagnostics. While genetically encoded fluorescent protein/peptide sensors have been most popular, emerging cell surface sensor systems including polymer‐, nanoparticle‐, and nucleic acid aptamer‐based sensors have largely expanded our toolkits to interrogate complex cellular signaling and micro‐ or nano‐environments. In particular, cell‐surface sensors that interrogate in vivo cellular microenvironments represent an emerging trend in the development of next generation tools which biologists may routinely apply to elucidate cell biology in vivo and to develop new therapeutics and diagnostics. This review focuses on the most recent development in areas of cell‐surface sensors. We will first discuss some recently reported genetically encoded sensors that were used for monitoring cellular metabolites, proteins, and neurotransmitters. We will then focus on the emerging cell surface sensor systems with emphasis on the use of DNA aptamer sensors for probing cell signaling and cell‐to‐cell communication. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2012, 4:547–561. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1179 This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > Biosensing Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Diagnostic Tools > In Vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here