Novel Biosensors for Pharmaceutical Analysis

Zeynep Altintas, Institute of Chemistry, Technical University of Berlin, Germany, Berlin, Germany (zeynep.altintas@tu-berlin.de)

The high consumption of drugs unavoidably leads to their release into the environment and this has been a subject of interest for many years. A vast number of reports in the last decade have highlighted the occurrence of drugs and their metabolites in aquatic systems, waste waters and water treatment plants. Their presence in aquatic environment and drinking waters is a result of unsuccessful elimination during sewage treatments. The use of milk products contaminated with antibiotics is another drawback, leading to allergic reactions and sensitivity in human. Also, long-term consumption of milk products containing low levels of the last resort antibiotics may cause the relevant bacteria to build up resistance. Sensitive, rapid and effective quantification and monitoring systems play a key role for pharmaceutical determination in water and milk products. Such quantification systems are also needed to determine the new drugs in tropical plant extracts and for use in pharmacokinetic studies. Hence, we have addressed these needs by developing novel sensors for pharmaceutical analysis in various samples, including plant extracts, human serum, water, and milk.

To achieve this goal, we design and synthesize biomimetic molecular receptors towards pharmaceuticals in nano- and electro-MIP formats, which are used for sensor development. The two different polymerization techniques, including solid phase synthesis and electropolymerization, are performed to obtain the drug specific receptors. The affinity between the receptors and the target drugs (dissociation constant < 1.8 nM) is mostly superior to natural and other synthetic receptors. We have applied these receptors for different transducing systems, such as electrochemical, surface plasmone resonance and piezoelectric sensors. In addition to utilizing these sensors in pharmaceutical monitoring from water and milk samples, they find application for the determination of certain drugs (e.g. artemisinin) in plant extracts and for pharmacokinetic studies.

The novel sensor systems offer rapid, sensitive and cost-effective analyses for pharmaceuticals, which are extremely simple, robust, and do not require pre-sample treatment. The developed sensors may have immense impact in pharmaceutical and health sectors.

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Abstract Reference & Short Personal Biography of Presenting Author

Keynote Speaker & Short Personal Biography of Zeynep Altintas

Dr. Zeynep Altintas is the head of the Biosensors and Receptor Development Group at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. Her background is biomedical engineering and biotechnology. She leads an interdisciplinary research group in the domain of optical, piezoelectric and electrochemical biosensors, bioreceptor development, and molecular modelling. Her specialization also includes but not limited to implementation of biosensors for the diagnosis of disease biomarkers, pharmaceuticals, and food and environmental pathogens. She has more than 100 publications in these fields, including a book, journal articles, book chapters, patent applications, and conference papers. She has delivered numerous invited talks at international conferences and world-renowned institutes. She has built a reputation in her areas of expertise that is recognized by several international awards to her research. She serves as an expert reviewer for EU and Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council (USA) funded projects, in addition to acting as an editorial board member and a reviewer for several important journals in her areas of expertise. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.