Computational Design of Nucleic
Acid-Based Bioreceptor
for Contaminants of Emerging Concern
Patrizio Arrigo and Debora Baroni
Abstract Human activities have increased the variety chemical pollutants spread in
air, water and soil. Every day new compounds potentially harmful or dangerous
could contribute to increase the level of environmental pollution. These substances
are known as Contaminant of Emerging Concern (CEC) because they have not
previously detected or their toxicity is not yet clearly established. The capability to
screen, almost prioritized CEC, requires new sensitive and rapid techniques capable
to create an efficient monitoring network. In addition to traditional analytical a new
class of monitoring systems is emerged: the biosensors. Their foremost characteristics is the use of a biological or biologically inspired receptor element, the bioreceptor, combined to a system capable to generate a physico-chemical signal. The
sensor element, e.g. tissue, microorganisms, cell receptor, enzymes antibodies and
nucleic acids, is biologically derived or inspire material. The detector transducer is
the module which capture and transform the biological signal in a chemical-physics
way: optical, piezoelectric, electro-chemical, electro-chemiluminescence etc., which
can be easily measured and quantified. Nucleic acid-based technologies have been
recently emerged as alternative to protein for bio-receptor design. The aim of this
chapter is to offer, from a computational perspective, a framework of tools and
challenge related to the selection of the most suitable bio-receptors to screen particular CEC chemicals: the pharmaceutical and personal care products (PCPPs).
Keywords Biosensors Á PCPPs Á Environmental monitoring Á Nucleic acids Á
Bionanotechnology Á Computational biology
P. Arrigo (&)
CNR Institute for Macromolecular Studies, Via de Marini 6, 16149 Genoa, Italy
e-mail: arrigo@ge.ismac.cnr.it
D. Baroni
CNR Institute of Biophysics, Via de Marini 6, 1649 Genoa, Italy
e-mail: dbaroni@ge.ibf.cnr.it
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
D. Pooja et al. (eds.), Sensors in Water Pollutants Monitoring: Role of Material,
Advanced Functional Materials and Sensors,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0671-0_12
213
Acid-Based Bioreceptor
for Contaminants of Emerging Concern
Patrizio Arrigo and Debora Baroni
Abstract Human activities have increased the variety chemical pollutants spread in
air, water and soil. Every day new compounds potentially harmful or dangerous
could contribute to increase the level of environmental pollution. These substances
are known as Contaminant of Emerging Concern (CEC) because they have not
previously detected or their toxicity is not yet clearly established. The capability to
screen, almost prioritized CEC, requires new sensitive and rapid techniques capable
to create an efficient monitoring network. In addition to traditional analytical a new
class of monitoring systems is emerged: the biosensors. Their foremost characteristics is the use of a biological or biologically inspired receptor element, the bioreceptor, combined to a system capable to generate a physico-chemical signal. The
sensor element, e.g. tissue, microorganisms, cell receptor, enzymes antibodies and
nucleic acids, is biologically derived or inspire material. The detector transducer is
the module which capture and transform the biological signal in a chemical-physics
way: optical, piezoelectric, electro-chemical, electro-chemiluminescence etc., which
can be easily measured and quantified. Nucleic acid-based technologies have been
recently emerged as alternative to protein for bio-receptor design. The aim of this
chapter is to offer, from a computational perspective, a framework of tools and
challenge related to the selection of the most suitable bio-receptors to screen particular CEC chemicals: the pharmaceutical and personal care products (PCPPs).
Keywords Biosensors Á PCPPs Á Environmental monitoring Á Nucleic acids Á
Bionanotechnology Á Computational biology
P. Arrigo (&)
CNR Institute for Macromolecular Studies, Via de Marini 6, 16149 Genoa, Italy
e-mail: arrigo@ge.ismac.cnr.it
D. Baroni
CNR Institute of Biophysics, Via de Marini 6, 1649 Genoa, Italy
e-mail: dbaroni@ge.ibf.cnr.it
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
D. Pooja et al. (eds.), Sensors in Water Pollutants Monitoring: Role of Material,
Advanced Functional Materials and Sensors,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0671-0_12
213