Recent advances in bacterial detection techniques targeting genetic, protein, and enzymatic biomarkers
- 1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening & NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao Joint Laboratory for New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
- 2Corresponding author.
Abstract
Rapid and accurate diagnosis of bacterial infections is essential for effective clinical management, food safety, and environmental monitoring. Traditional culture-based methods are time-consuming and inadequate for addressing urgent challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This review categorizes recent bacterial detection strategies into three major biomarker types: genetic, protein, and enzymatic. For each category, we outline the underlying detection mechanisms, evaluate analytical performance, and highlight representative technologies, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas (CRISPR-Cas) assays, advanced immunoassays, aptamer sensors, and enzyme-based assays. Meanwhile, we provide a detailed description of representative examples for each representative technology. Key metrics such as sensitivity, detection time, portability, and point-of-care (POC) applicability are compared to reveal the strengths and limitations of each approach. Translational progress is discussed with emphasis on commercialized platforms, field-deployable devices, and multimodal workflows. Finally, major technical bottlenecks are identified, and future directions are proposed for developing robust, rapid, and widely accessible bacterial diagnostics.
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BibTeX
@article{chen2026recent,
title = {{Recent advances in bacterial detection techniques targeting genetic, protein, and enzymatic biomarkers}},
author = {Hanren Chen and Jiayi Xiao and Bihong Diao and Shiquan Zheng and Huaze Shao and Lihong Liu},
journal = {Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101584},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101584},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Recent advances in bacterial detection techniques targeting genetic, protein, and enzymatic biomarkers
AU - Hanren Chen
AU - Jiayi Xiao
AU - Bihong Diao
AU - Shiquan Zheng
AU - Huaze Shao
AU - Lihong Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis
DO - 10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101584
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101584
AB - Rapid and accurate diagnosis of bacterial infections is essential for effective clinical management, food safety, and environmental monitoring. Traditional culture-based methods are time-consuming and inadequate for addressing urgent challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This review categorizes recent bacterial detection strategies into three major biomarker types: genetic, protein, and enzymatic. For each category, we outline the underlying detection mechanisms, evaluate analytical performance, and highlight representative technologies, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas (CRISPR-Cas) assays, advanced immunoassays, aptamer sensors, and enzyme-based assays. Meanwhile, we provide a detailed description of representative examples for each representative technology. Key metrics such as sensitivity, detection time, portability, and point-of-care (POC) applicability are compared to reveal the strengths and limitations of each approach. Translational progress is discussed with emphasis on commercialized platforms, field-deployable devices, and multimodal workflows. Finally, major technical bottlenecks are identified, and future directions are proposed for developing robust, rapid, and widely accessible bacterial diagnostics.
SN - 2095-1779
SN - 2214-0883
ER -