EAGER: Elastic Electronics for Sensing Gut Luminal and Serosal Biochemical Release

微生物-肠-脑交流在精神疾病的进展中起着重要作用，如焦虑、抑郁和神经发育障碍。肠道血清素占人体血清素的95%，是肠道微生物群和大脑之间的重要纽带。然而，由于缺乏适当的生物电子工具，对肠道血清素的功能和对肠道神经系统的影响的了解是有限的。胃肠道（GI）是一系列具有固有运动性的软器官，从口腔到肛门连接成一条长而扭曲的管道。因此，由于传统的生物电子探针是刚性和脆弱的，因此在胃肠道中进行生化传感一直具有挑战性。该奖项旨在开发一种基于组织样软材料的新型生物电子工具，使肠上皮的粘膜和浆膜两侧都可以进行神经化学传感，从而使我们能够研究各种生理因素的生化作用。该项目预计将创造一个强大的研究工具，为肠道血清素的动态提供新的见解，并为通过干预胃肠道对精神疾病患者进行变革性诊断和治疗奠定基础。研究重点将与全面的教育和推广内容紧密结合，包括生物设计课程和关于软电子的RET项目，以培养来自不同背景的生物电子高度跨学科研究领域的未来科学家和工程师。该项目旨在通过开发一种柔软而有弹性的石墨烯基生物电传感器阵列来填补电进入肠道的关键技术空白，该传感器阵列提供与粘膜和浆膜连接的坚固而亲密的肠上皮组织，从而在连续的肠道运动中实现同时和多路生化传感。该项目包括三个作用：(1)系统研究氮掺杂石墨烯电极材料对多种神经递质敏感和选择性传感的电化学性能。(2)开发一种新的石墨烯微电极微加工工艺，为生化传感创造一种全软石墨烯基微电极阵列。(3)评估弹性电子传感器阵列与肠道粘膜和浆膜侧的接口在啮齿动物模型主动移动肠道中进行多路多通道生化传感的可行性。该研究将为收集啮齿动物肠道主动运动中肠道生化物质的时空波动的关键数据集提供新的工具。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Microbiota-gut-brain communication plays an important role in the progression of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Gut serotonin, which accounts for 95% of the body's serotonin, serves as an important link between gut microbiota and the brain. However, knowledge of gut serotonin's function and impact on the enteric nervous system is limited due to the lack of proper bioelectronic tools. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a series of soft organs with inherent motility, joined in a long and twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. As a result, biochemical sensing in the GI tract has historically been challenging because conventional bioelectronic probes are rigid and fragile. This award aims to develop a new bioelectronic tool based on tissue-like soft materials that make both the mucosal and serosal sides of the intestinal epithelium accessible to neurochemical sensing, thus allowing us to study the biochemical effect on various physiological factors. The project is expected to create a powerful research tool that will provide novel insights into the dynamics of gut serotonin and lay the foundation for the development of transformative diagnosis and treatment for patients with psychiatric disorders through intervention in the GI tract. The research thrusts will be tightly coupled with comprehensive educational and outreach components, including Biodesign course and RET projects about soft electronics, to prepare future scientists and engineers from diverse backgrounds in the highly interdisciplinary research fields of bioelectronics.This project seeks to fill the critical technology gap of accessing the gut electrically by developing a soft and elastic graphene-based bioelectric sensor array that provides robust and intimate intestinal epithelium tissue interfacing with both the mucosa and serosa, thus enabling simultaneous and multiplexed biochemical sensing during continuous gut motion. The project includes three roles: (1) Systematic examination of the electrochemical performance of nitrogen-doped graphene electrode materials for sensitive and selective sensing of multiple neurotransmitters. (2) Development of a new microfabrication process for graphene microelectrode production to create a fully soft, graphene-based microelectrode array for biochemical sensing. (3) Evaluation of the feasibility of the elastic electronic sensor arrays to be interfaced with both the mucosal and serosal sides of the gut for multiplexed and multi-channel biochemical sensing in the actively moving gut of a rodent model. The proposed research will lead to a new tool for collecting critical datasets on motility-associated temporospatial fluctuation of gut biochemicals in the actively moving intestine of rodent animals.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.