From Small Molecules toward Whole Cells Detection: Application of Electrochemical Aptasensors in Modern Medical Diagnostics

Abstract

This paper focuses on the current state of art as well as on future trends in electrochemical aptasensors application in medical diagnostics. The origin of aptamers is presented along with the description of the process known as SELEX. This is followed by the description of the broad spectrum of aptamer-based sensors for the electrochemical detection of various diagnostically relevant analytes, including metal cations, abused drugs, neurotransmitters, cancer, cardiac and coagulation biomarkers, circulating tumor cells, and viruses. We described also possible future perspectives of aptasensors development. This concerns (i) the approaches to lowering the detection limit and improvement of the electrochemical aptasensors selectivity by application of the hybrid aptamer–antibody receptor layers and/or nanomaterials; and (ii) electrochemical aptasensors integration with more advanced microfluidic devices as user-friendly medical instruments for medical diagnostic of the future.