Review
Multiplexed Nanobiosensors: Current Trends in
Early Diagnostics
Greta Jarockyte
1,2
, Vitalijus Karabanovas
1,2,
* , Ricardas Rotomskis
2
and
Ali Mobasheri
1,3,4
1
Department of Regenerative Medicine, State Research Institute Centre for Innovative Medicine,
Santariskiu 5
,
LT-08406 Vilnius, Lithuania; greta.jarockyte@imcentras.lt (G.J.); ali.mobasheri@imcentras.lt (A.M.)
2
Biomedical Physics Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Baublio 3b, LT-08406 Vilnius, Lithuania;
ricardas.rotomskis@nvi.lt
3
Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu,
FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
4
Departments of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht,
3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
* Correspondence: vitalijus.karabanovas@nvi.lt
Received: 9 November 2020; Accepted: 30 November 2020; Published: 2 December 2020
Abstract:
The ever-growing demand for fast, cheap, and reliable diagnostic tools for personalised
medicine is encouraging scientists to improve existing technology platforms and to create new
methods for the detection and quantification of biomarkers of clinical significance. Simultaneous
detection of multiple analytes allows more accurate assessment of changes in biomarker expression
and offers the possibility of disease diagnosis at the earliest stages. The concept of multiplexing,
where multiple analytes can be detected in a single sample, can be tackled using several types of
nanomaterial-based biosensors. Quantum dots are widely used photoluminescent nanoparticles and
represent one of the most frequent choices for different multiplex systems. However, nanoparticles
that incorporate gold, silver, and rare earth metals with their unique optical properties are an emerging
perspective in the multiplexing field. In this review, we summarise progress in various nanoparticle
applications for multiplexed biomarkers.
Keywords:
multiplexing; nanoparticles; quantum dots; gold nanoparticles; silver nanoparticles;
upconverting nanoparticles
1. Introduction
The clinical diagnosis of many diseases depends on the accurate and unambiguous detection of
various biomarkers, which may include proteins or other biomolecules [
1
–
3
]. Immunoassays are a
well-established tool for measuring analytes that are normally present at very low concentrations and
cannot be determined accurately by other less expensive tests. Standard immunoassays are used to
detect one specific analyte, however, for complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis
(RA) and osteoarthritis (OA), which involve a multitude of biomarkers, one analyte is not enough to
obtain an early and accurate diagnosis. In this case, multiple immunoassays can be employed. However,
immunoassays require samples that are collected, labelled, archived, and bio-banked according to
established laboratory protocols before even conducting the assays, which makes this method
challenging and time-consuming. In order to diagnose at the earliest stages of disease development,
it is crucial to detect as much information as possible from small quantities of clinical samples. In this
context, multiplexed immunoassays are an obvious and attractive approach, especially when sample
volumes are limited. The main advantage of multiplexed analysis is the capability to detect multiple
Sensors 2020, 20, 6890; doi:10.3390/s20236890 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
