Bilkent University National Nanotechnology Research Center’s (UNAM) Asst. Prof. Fatih İnci, in collaboration with Stanford University, Oregon Health & Science University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), has published his study entitled “A Smart Probe for Detection of Sugar Markers for Applications in Gastrointestinal Barrier Dysfunction,” in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
The study presents a novel, low-cost biosensing platform designed for the non-invasive detection of early-stage gastrointestinal (GI) barrier dysfunction. As part of the research, an intelligent probe capable of sensitively detecting lactulose, a key sugar biomarker indicative of intestinal permeability, was developed by integrating fluorescence and plasmonic signal readouts. By employing gold nanoparticle–decorated surfaces in a scalable 96-well plate format, the platform achieves high sensitivity, high throughput, and excellent scalability, while offering a strong alternative to conventional, costly, and time-consuming analytical techniques. This approach is expected to contribute to the development of portable and routine diagnostic tools for the early detection of gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases.
The full study by Asst. Prof. Fatih İnci is available at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956566324010479
