{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T08:00:56Z","timestamp":1767945656431,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767916800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study presents a tunable terahertz biosensor based on a hybrid architecture integrating bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS) with a photonic crystal for the label-free and highly sensitive detection of human serum albumin (HSA). The sensor exhibits a sharp Fano resonance resulting from the synergistic coupling between a defect mode and the BDS-mediated plasmonic response, with its resonance frequency being highly sensitive to variations in the refractive index of the sensing layer. Electric field simulations confirm significant field confinement and enhancement within the sensing region. The electrically tunable property of BDS allows dynamic reconfiguration of the sensor\u2019s sensitivity by adjusting the Fermi level (0.1\u20130.4\u00a0eV), though at the expense of a reduced figure of merit (FOM) due to broader resonance peaks and increased loss, necessitating a balance in practical implementations. Structural parameter analysis reveals that sensitivity is inversely proportional to the sensing layer thickness and gradually decreases with increasing refractive index. The proposed biosensor achieves a reflection dip deeper than 99% near 1\u00a0THz, with an angular sensitivity of 247.5\u00b0\/RIU for minute refractive index changes (\u0394n = 0.002), demonstrating high sensitivity and excellent electrical tunability. This platform demonstrates pioneering potential in integrating diagnostic-treatment nanotechnology. Due to the powerful local field enhancement generated by the BDS photonic crystal heterostructure, the imaging sensitivity of the contrast agent based on nanoenzymes has been significantly improved. Moreover, the profound local field enhancement and dynamic tunability of this platform suggest its potential for real-time monitoring and regulation of the catalytic efficiency of nanoenzymes, which could address a fundamental challenge in therapeutic applications. Combined with its inherent biocompatibility and strong detection capabilities, this framework proposes a viable pathway toward the clinical translation of nanoenzyme technology. Our work thus establishes a foundational platform that paves the way for future multifunctional theranostic systems capable of combining sensitive biomarker monitoring with enhanced therapeutic effects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1736291","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T06:40:40Z","timestamp":1767940840000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A dynamically tunable terahertz human serum albumin biosensor based on Dirac semimetal nanozyme"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ling","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qiaohong","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jie","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuxiang","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiao","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qiang","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-021-01045-5","article-title":"Advances and applications of nanophotonic biosensors","volume":"17","author":"Altug","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8014","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-024-52080-4","article-title":"Large superconducting diode effect in ion-beam patterned Sn-based superconductor nanowire\/topological dirac semimetal planar heterostructures","volume":"15","author":"Anh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/s41377-025-01866-2","article-title":"Nanophotonic sensing and label-free imaging of extracellular vesicles","volume":"14","author":"Barth","year":"2025","journal-title":"Light Sci. and Appl."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8759","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-025-63843-y","article-title":"Topological Luttinger-semimetal CoAs3 dye-sensitized photocatalyst for efficient solar hydrogen evolution","volume":"16","author":"Cao","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1118","DOI":"10.1038\/s41567-024-02412-4","article-title":"Leggett modes in a dirac semimetal","volume":"20","author":"Cuozzo","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. Phys."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1567","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-85164-2","article-title":"Exploring the correlations between six serological inflammatory markers and different stages of type 2 diabetic retinopathy","volume":"15","author":"Deng","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"146376","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijbiomac.2025.146376","article-title":"Human serum albumin-based cryogels as a biomimetic platform for 3D co-culture and drug-induced liver injury prediction","volume":"278","author":"Duan","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int. J. Biol. Macromol."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"440","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-020-00841-9","article-title":"Fano-resonant ultrathin film optical coatings","volume":"16","author":"ElKabbash","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"215301","DOI":"10.1088\/0953-8984\/25\/21\/215301","article-title":"Transfer matrix method for optics in graphene layers","volume":"25","author":"Federici","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Phys. Condens. Matter"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2848","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.31836","article-title":"Albumin in advanced liver diseases: the good and bad of a drug","volume":"74","author":"Jagdish","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"113805","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2021.113805","article-title":"Recent advancements in optical biosensors for cancer detection","volume":"197","author":"Kaur","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"042001","DOI":"10.1088\/2632-959x\/ae11c9","article-title":"Progress in fabrication techniques and applications of patterned low-dimensional materials and nano-films","volume":"6","author":"Kim","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nano Express"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/s41566-025-01708-y","article-title":"Plasmonic biosensor enabled by resonant quantum tunnelling","volume":"19","author":"Lee","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nat. Photonics"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1038\/nphoton.2017.142","article-title":"Fano resonances in photonics","volume":"11","author":"Limonov","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. Photonics"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7792","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jmedchem.5c00431","article-title":"Rationally designed Ir(III) complex with an exceptionally strong binding to human serum albumin for targeted photodynamic therapy","volume":"68","author":"Linero-Artiaga","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Med. Chem."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"333","DOI":"10.1006\/jcis.1994.1303","article-title":"Ellipsometry studies of protein layers adsorbed at hydrophobic surfaces","volume":"166","author":"Malmsten","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Colloid Interface Sci."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"112186","DOI":"10.1016\/j.optlastec.2024.112186","article-title":"Goos-h\u00e4nchen shifts around fano resonances in superconducting photonic crystals embedded with graphene","volume":"182","author":"Ni","year":"2025","journal-title":"Opt. and Laser Technol."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"034402","DOI":"10.1063\/1.5042450","article-title":"Nonlinear plasmonics of three-dimensional dirac semimetals","volume":"4","author":"Ooi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Apl. Photonics"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"30076","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-15422-w","article-title":"The interactions of non-functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles with human albumin and erythrocyte proteins: implications and potential consequences","volume":"15","author":"P\u0142uciennik","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2179","DOI":"10.1007\/s40620-023-01697-7","article-title":"Nephrotic syndrome: pathophysiology and consequences","volume":"36","author":"Ponticelli","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Nephrol."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"109254","DOI":"10.1016\/j.optlaseng.2025.109254","article-title":"Advancements in optical waveguide sensors through fano resonance","volume":"195","author":"Rawat","year":"2025","journal-title":"Opt. Lasers Eng."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"747","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-021-00578-9","article-title":"Optimizing antimicrobial use: challenges, advances and opportunities","volume":"19","author":"Rawson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Microbiol."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"729","DOI":"10.1021\/acsaelm.1c01126","article-title":"High mobility Cd3As2 (112) on GaAs (001) substrates grown via molecular beam epitaxy","volume":"4","author":"Rice","year":"2022","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Electron. Mater."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1038\/nrgastro.2018.1","article-title":"Reimagining the diagnostic pathway for gastrointestinal cancer","volume":"15","author":"Rubin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Gastroenterology and Hepatology"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1021\/acsbiomaterials.3c01361","article-title":"Integration of MXene and microfluidics: a perspective","volume":"10","author":"Safarkhani","year":"2024","journal-title":"ACS Biomaterials Sci. and Eng."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1430","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-023-01484-2","article-title":"Microwave synthesis of molybdenene from MoS2","volume":"18","author":"Sahu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24811","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-74288-6","article-title":"Silicon-based double fano resonances photonic integrated gas sensor","volume":"14","author":"Salama","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1038\/s41378-024-00847-6","article-title":"Putting piezoelectric sensors into fano resonances","volume":"10","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Microsystems and Nanoeng."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1515\/nanoph-2017-0064","article-title":"Advances in optoplasmonic sensors\u2013combining optical nano\/microcavities and photonic crystals with plasmonic nanostructures and nanoparticles","volume":"7","author":"Xavier","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nanophotonics"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"606","DOI":"10.3390\/bios15090606","article-title":"Terahertz high-sensitivity SPR phase biosensor based on the weyl semimetals","volume":"15","author":"Xie","year":"2025","journal-title":"Biosensors"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147401","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.126.147401","article-title":"Tunable terahertz plasmons in graphite thin films","volume":"126","author":"Xing","year":"2021","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. Lett."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"127471","DOI":"10.1016\/j.talanta.2024.127471","article-title":"Tetraphenylethylene-indole as a novel fluorescent probe for selective and sensitive detection of human serum albumin (HSA) in biological matrices and monitoring of HSA purity and degradation","volume":"286","author":"Yang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"B33","first-page":"49","article-title":"Design and fabrication techniques","volume-title":"From 2D to 3D photonic integrated circuits","author":"Yi","year":"2025"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2412913","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.202412913","article-title":"Two-dimensional layered topological semimetals for advanced electronics and optoelectronics","volume":"35","author":"Yu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.2174\/1876402911666181218143608","article-title":"Thermal interface materials based on vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays: a review","volume":"11","author":"Yuan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Micro Nanosyst."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2360","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.3c04828","article-title":"Controllable assembly of a quantum dot-based aptasensor guided by CRISPR\/Cas12a for direct measurement of circulating tumor cells in human blood","volume":"24","author":"Zhang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"137788","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2025.137788","article-title":"Extreme sensitivity biosensing platform based on fano resonance and graphene oxide","volume":"438","author":"Zhao","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sensors Actuators B Chem."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1736291\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T06:40:41Z","timestamp":1767940841000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1736291\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"references-count":37,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1736291"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1736291","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-4185"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-4185","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"article-number":"1736291"}}