Enzymatic Biosensor Platforms for Infectious Disease Diagnosis: Focus on Tuberculosis and Neglected Tropical Diseases

Abstract

Infectious diseases affect millions worldwide and report high mortality rates with antimicrobial resistance hazards. Effective and affordable diagnostic measures are required to achieve global control over the spread of their causative agents. Biosensors, which can rapidly detect specific disease biomarkers like antigens, antibodies, metabolites, etc., have overshadowed standard radiography techniques and time-consuming bacteriological examinations to diagnose such diseases. Several biosensors and chip-based bioassays employ enzymes as biorecognition elements by combining their versatility, reusability, and several other key features to form unique miniaturized diagnostic devices. Enzymes are pivotal in catalyzing reactions as well as amplifying signals to generate reproducible results on complex platforms, thereby maximizing both specificity and sensitivity of detection. Thus, enzyme-based biosensors minimize serodiagnosis errors in resource-poor settings, which is a primary concern in the diagnoses of these diseases. Further, these enzymes can be bioengineered in a myriad of ways and integrated with nanomaterials for different biosensing strategies. In today’s world, enzymatic sensors are both robust and lucrative due to their capacity to sustain chemical modifications and functionalization with other chemical groups or molecules. Herein, the authors elaborate on the significant advancements, scope, and challenges in the application of enzymes on biosensor platforms in the diagnosis of highly communicable infectious diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).