{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T12:44:19Z","timestamp":1782737059348,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,10]],"date-time":"2024-07-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1720569600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Griffith University Higher Degree Research Scholarship"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Micromachines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungus that becomes pathogenic and problematic under certain biological conditions. C. albicans may cause painful and uncomfortable symptoms, as well as deaths in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, early detection of C. albicans is essential. However, conventional detection methods are costly, slow, and inaccessible to women in remote or developing areas. To address these concerns, we have developed a wearable and discrete naked-eye detectable colorimetric platform for C. albicans detection. With some modification, this platform is designed to be directly adhered to existing feminine hygiene pads. Our platform is rapid, inexpensive, user-friendly, and disposable and only requires three steps: (i) the addition of vaginal fluid onto sample pads; (ii) the addition of gold nanoparticle gel and running buffer, and (iii) naked eye detection. Our platform is underpinned by selective thiolated aptamer-based recognition of 1,3-\u03b2-D glucan molecules\u2014a hallmark of C. albicans cell walls. In the absence of C. albicans, wearable sample pads turn bright pink. In the presence of C. albicans, the wearable pads turn dark blue due to significant nanoparticle target-induced aggregation. We demonstrate naked-eye colorimetric detection of 4.4 \u00d7 106\u00a0C. albicans cells per ml and nanoparticle stability over a pH range of 3.0\u20138.0. We believe that this proof-of-concept platform has the potential to have a significant impact on women\u2019s health globally.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mi15070899","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,12]],"date-time":"2024-07-12T14:04:35Z","timestamp":1720793075000},"page":"899","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Towards a Wearable Feminine Hygiene Platform for Detection of Invasive Fungal Pathogens via Gold Nanoparticle Aggregation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Kimberley","family":"Clack","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"},{"name":"School of Environment and Science (ESC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1164-3725","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed","family":"Sallam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"},{"name":"School of Environment and Science (ESC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"},{"name":"Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carney","family":"Matheson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Environment and Science (ESC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3678-3575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Serge","family":"Muyldermans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology (CMIM), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3626-5361","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nam-Trung","family":"Nguyen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC), Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mib.2020.05.006","article-title":"The gut, the bad and the harmless: Candida albicans as a commensal and opportunistic pathogen in the intestine","volume":"56","author":"Kumamoto","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. 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