Cellular biosensors

Prito MA, Garcia JL (1997) Identification of the 4-hydroxyphenylacetate transport gene of Escherichia coli W construction of a highly sensitive cellular biosensor. FEBS Letters 414 293-297... 

Cellular biosensors have been widely described [11-55]. In many cases, the cells have been used in a manner analogous to that of enzyme based devices simply because they contain substantial quantities of particular enzymes. There are, of course, advantages to this approach since the enzymes do not have to be isolated and so may be cheaper but also more active and more stable than the purified components. However, the reproducibility, speed of response and selectivity of the cell based devices will, in general, be less favorable than their enzyme based counterparts. This is because of the relatively large physical size of the cells, the presence of membranes that hinder diffusion and the presence of enzymes other than the one(s) of particular interest. Nevertheless, a range of approaches has been adopted to improve the selectivity and other characteristics of whole cell biosensor devices. These were reviewed by Racek [11] and include ... 

Durick K, Negulescu P. Cellular biosensors for drug discovery. Biosens Bioelectron 2001 16 587-92. 

The book is divided into 3 sections. Section I.Cellular Model Systems, includes 3 chapters (Allelopathy and plant cell diagnostics, Cellular models as biosensors and microalgae for determining the effects of allelochemicals). Section II. New Methods of Microscopy has 5 chapters (Microscopic methods to study morpho-cytological events during the seed germination,... 

Roshchina V.V. (2004). Plant cholinesterase activity as a biosensor cellular models. In Cholinergic Mechanisms. I. Silman, H. Soreq, L. Anglister, D.M. Michaelson and A. Fisher (eds). pp. 260-263. Martin Dunitz. London, UK. 

A biosensor is used to determine various parameters associated with biological species such as single biomolecules, molecular complexes, viruses, cells, and tissues. Understanding mechanisms, from the molecular to the cellular level, is... 

S. L. R. Barker, Y. Zhao, M. A. Marietta, and R. Kopelman, Cellular Applications of a Fiber-Optic Biosensor Based on a Dye-Labeled Guanylate Cyclase, And. Chem. 1999, 71, 2071 M. Kuratli and E. Pretsch, S02-Selective Optodes, AnaL Chem. 1994,66, 85. 

B. Stein, M. George, H.E. Gaub, J.C. Behrends and W.J. Parak, Spatially resolved monitoring of cellular metabolic activity with a semiconductor-based biosensor, Biosens. Bioelectron., 18(1) (2003) 31-41. 

In all the respirometric biosensors, very positive results on increasing analytical characteristic were obtained with some modification to the experimental systems (cell depleted of cellular walls, addition of sensitising and transport agents). 

In undertaking our search of the literature linked to bioanalytical assessment of solid waste leachates (Tab. 2), we circumscribed it to small-scale toxicity testing performed on leachates. Furthermore, we did not exclude marine bioassays, but we exclusively selected literature references involving test battery approaches (TBAs) on solid wastes (or their elutriates). As defined previously in the first chapter of this book, a TBA represents a study conducted with two or more tests representing at least two biotic levels. As also pointed out in Section 2 of this chapter, TBAs are suitable to assess hazard at different levels so as not to underestimate ecotoxicity. Nevertheless, we have not excluded from this review publications describing other types of bioassays (e.g., terrestrial bioassays, sub-cellular bioassays or those carried out with recombinant DNA (micro)organisms and biosensors), when those were part of the TBA. 

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