Recent Progress on Targeted Gel Media for the Application of Bioanalysis

Targeted gels have been attractive and regarded as a kind of promising adsorptive media for bioanalysis due to their advantages of high specific surface area, enough stability, and adjustable porous structure. Recently, targeted gel media have been applied for separation and enrichment of various biomolecules from different biological samples. Moreover, targeted gel media have been introduced into surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology to eliminate matrix effect for rapid and accurate analysis of biological samples. In this article, we introduced the preparation methods of targeted gel media including in-situ polymerization method, self-assembly method and one-pot method. Then, the functions of targeted gel media in bioanalysis including separation-enrichment media, SERS substrates, and target-responsive units were also reviewed in detail. Additionally, the applications of targeted gel media for biomarker analysis, bioimaging analysis and cell engineering were further discussed. Finally, we tried to elucidate the trend and perspective into the future landscape of targeted gel media for bioanalysis.