Graphene-coated soft elastic substrates for cell adhesion studies: Local nanomechanics and label-free electronic biosensing

用于细胞粘附研究的石墨烯涂层软弹性基底：局部纳米力学和无标记电子生物传感

• 批准号: 431849238
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Kannan Balasubramanian
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/431849238?language=en
• 关键词: Graphene; coated; soft; elastic; substrates

Cell culture has long been performed in plates where the stiff underlying substrate has only served as a support. Recent observations have shown that cells interact with their microenvironment and the stiffness of the underlying surface plays an active role in cell growth and proliferation. Varying the stiffness of substrates for cell growth provides a versatile handle to modulate the mechanical properties of the local cellular microenvironment and study the effect on cell-cell and cell-surface interactions. Most of the investigations on studying cell adhesion on soft elastic substrates utilize optical detection methods where labeling is often necessary and the possibility to obtain real-time information at the interfacial level is limited. Electronic readout of cell-substrate interactions by suitable electrodes placed between the cells and the growth substrate will allow the possibility to study cell adhesion in real-time in a label-free manner. Here we propose the realization of a biomaterial platform wherein soft elastic substrates are coated with a single sheet of graphene as electrode material for studying cell adhesion. Three specific aspects will be investigated in this proposal using this platform. First, the project aims at obtaining an improved understanding of the effect of single graphene sheets on the stiffness of elastic substrates by using dynamic nanomechanical scanning probe microscopy. A second principal goal is the realization of sensing devices based on the graphene sheet on soft substrates and utilize impedance detection to study cellular processes in real time. Finally, we will exploit chemical functionalization of graphene to provide suitable receptors at the interface and study the ensuing effect on cell behavior. Although the proposed activities will focus mainly on breast cancer cells, this unique sensing platform can be extended to other cell types and cellular processes.

长期以来，细胞培养一直是在平板中进行的，在平板上，坚硬的底物只起到支撑的作用。最近的观察表明，细胞与其微环境相互作用，细胞下表面的刚性对细胞的生长和增殖起着积极的作用。改变细胞生长基质的硬度为调节局部细胞微环境的力学性质和研究对细胞-细胞和细胞-表面相互作用的影响提供了一个通用的手柄。大多数研究细胞在软弹性基质上的粘附性的研究都采用光学检测方法，其中标记往往是必要的，而在界面水平上获得实时信息的可能性是有限的。通过放置在细胞和生长底物之间的适当电极对细胞-底物相互作用的电子读出将允许以无标记的方式实时研究细胞粘附性。在这里，我们提出了一种生物材料平台的实现，在软弹性衬底上涂上一层单层石墨烯作为电极材料，用于研究细胞黏附。在这份提案中，将使用这一平台调查三个具体方面。首先，该项目旨在通过使用动态纳米机械扫描探针显微镜来更好地了解单个石墨烯薄片对弹性衬底硬度的影响。第二个主要目标是在软衬底上实现基于石墨烯薄片的传感设备，并利用阻抗检测来实时研究细胞过程。最后，我们将利用石墨烯的化学功能化来在界面上提供合适的受体，并研究随后对细胞行为的影响。虽然拟议的活动将主要集中在乳腺癌细胞上，但这个独特的传感平台可以扩展到其他类型的细胞和细胞过程。