Real-Time Monitoring of Cellular Bioenergetics with a Multianalyte Screen-Printed Electrode

Real-time monitoring of changes to cellular bioenergetics can provide new insights into mechanisms of action for disease and toxicity. This work describes the development of a multianalyte screen-printed electrode for the detection of analytes central to cellular bioenergetics: glucose, lactate, oxygen, and pH. Platinum screen-printed electrodes were designed in-house and printed by Pine Research Instrumentation. Electrochemical plating techniques were used to form quasi-reference and pH electrodes. A Dimatix materials inkjet printer was used to deposit enzyme and polymer films to form sensors for glucose, lactate, and oxygen. These sensors were evaluated in bulk solution and microfluidic environments, and they were found to behave reproducibly and possess a lifetime of up to 6 weeks. Linear ranges and limits of detection for enzyme-based sensors were found to have an inverse relationship with enzyme loading, and iridium oxide pH sensors were found to have super-Nernstian responses. Preliminary measurements where the sensor was enclosed within a microfluidic channel with RAW 264.7 macrophages were performed to demonstrate the sensors' capabilities for performing real-time microphysiometry measurements.