Enzyme-based biosensors: emerging tools for advanced biomedical applications

Proteins and enzymes are fundamental elements for the correct regulation of cell metabolism and their dysregulation or malfunction can lead to the onset of several pathologies. Altered enzymes can participate in tumour formation and progression, but they can also take part in neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. Enzyme-based biosensor can become important tools for disease monitoring and drug screening in a faster and cost-effective manner. This works shows the importance of these molecules, giving particular attention to their role in cancer development and neurodegenerative diseases. After the introduction many examples of enzyme immobilization techniques and detection methods are presented, showing most recent advances and innovations. After these general aspects of enzyme-based biosensor, several applicative systems for the detection of specific molecules and drug screening are presented with the intention to show the versatility of these devices. In conclusion, possible future developments of enzymatic biosensors are described, including the synergy with artificial intelligence system and the first studies of self-powered devices, describing the cutting-edge technologies of this field and new possible applications.