A novel sweet taste cell-based sensor.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Sensory Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Sweet taste detection relies on specific cell receptors and signaling pathways.
• Developing sensitive and selective biosensors for tastant identification is crucial for food science and health monitoring.
• Existing methods for tastant detection can be complex and lack real-time analysis capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel sweet taste cell-based sensor for accurate tastant detection.
• To investigate the feasibility of using human colorectal carcinoma NCI-H716 cell lines for biosensing applications.
• To establish a reliable method for analyzing electrochemical impedance spectrum data for tastant identification.

Main Methods:

• Culturing NCI-H716 cells expressing α-gustducin and T1R1/T1R3 on a modified carbon screen-printed electrode.
• Utilizing a fluidic system and applying an electric field (1 kHz, 10 μA) to stimulate the cells.
• Recording electrochemical impedance spectrum data and processing it using bistable stochastic resonance for signal-to-noise ratio analysis.

Main Results:

• The sensor successfully detected four basic tastants and sucrose across seven concentrations.
• A negative control using COLO-205 cells confirmed the necessity of specific taste receptor expression (T1R2 and T1R3) for detection.
• The developed sensor system demonstrated good stability and repeatability in tastant detection.

Conclusions:

• A novel sweet taste cell-based sensor has been successfully developed using NCI-H716 cells.
• The sensor provides a sensitive and specific method for detecting various tastants.
• This approach offers a promising platform for practical applications in food analysis and taste research.