Saldanha Dalia Jane, Cai Anqi, Dorval Courchesne Noémie-Manuelle
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3A 0C5.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2023 May 8;9(5):2020-2047. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00699. Epub 2021 Sep 7.
Sweat is an increasingly popular biological medium for fitness monitoring and clinical diagnostics. It contains an abundance of biological information and is available continuously and noninvasively. Sweat-sensing devices often employ proteins in various capacities to create skin-friendly matrices that accurately extract valuable and time-sensitive information from sweat. Proteins were first used in sensors as biorecognition elements in the form of enzymes and antibodies, which are now being tuned to operate at ranges relevant for sweat. In addition, a range of structural proteins, sometimes assembled in conjunction with polymers, can provide flexible and compatible matrices for skin sensors. Other proteins also naturally possess a range of functionalities─as adhesives, charge conductors, fluorescence emitters, and power generators─that can make them useful components in wearable devices. Here, we examine the four main components of wearable sweat sensors─the biorecognition element, the transducer, the scaffold, and the adhesive─and the roles that proteins have played so far, or promise to play in the future, in each component. On a case-by-case basis, we analyze the performance characteristics of existing protein-based devices, their applicable ranges of detection, their transduction mechanism and their mechanical properties. Thereby, we review and compare proteins that can readily be used in sweat sensors and others that will require further efforts to overcome design, stability or scalability challenges. Incorporating proteins in one or multiple components of sweat sensors could lead to the development and deployment of tunable, greener, and safer biosourced devices.
汗液作为一种用于健康监测和临床诊断的生物介质，正日益受到欢迎。它包含丰富的生物信息，且可连续、无创获取。汗液传感装置通常以各种方式利用蛋白质来创建对皮肤友好的基质，从而准确地从汗液中提取有价值且对时间敏感的信息。蛋白质最初在传感器中用作酶和抗体形式的生物识别元件，如今正在进行调整以在与汗液相关的范围内发挥作用。此外，一系列结构蛋白，有时与聚合物结合组装，可为皮肤传感器提供灵活且兼容的基质。其他蛋白质还天然具有一系列功能，如粘合剂、电荷导体、荧光发射器和发电机等，这使得它们成为可穿戴设备中的有用组件。在此，我们研究可穿戴汗液传感器的四个主要组件——生物识别元件、换能器、支架和粘合剂——以及蛋白质迄今已发挥的作用或有望在未来在每个组件中发挥的作用。我们逐案分析现有基于蛋白质的设备的性能特征、其适用的检测范围、其转换机制及其机械性能。由此，我们回顾并比较可轻易用于汗液传感器的蛋白质以及其他需要进一步努力以克服设计、稳定性或可扩展性挑战的蛋白质。将蛋白质纳入汗液传感器的一个或多个组件中，可能会推动可调谐、更环保、更安全的生物源设备的开发与应用。
