Implantable Organic Nano-Electronics

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Publications

Bioelectrical signal detection using conducting polymer electrodes and the displacement current method

Publication . Inácio, Pedro; Mestre, Ana L G; Medeiros, C.R.; Asgarifar, Sanaz; ELAMINE, Youssef; Canudo, Joana; Santos, João; Bragança, José; Morgado, Jorge; Biscarini, Fabio; Gomes, Henrique L.

Conducting polymer electrodes based on poly (3, 4 ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate were used to record electrophysiological signals from autonomous cardiac contractile cells present in embryoid bodies. Signal detection was carried out by measuring the displacement current across the polymer/electrolyte double-layer capacitance, and compared with voltage detection. While for relatively low capacitance electrodes, the voltage amplification provides higher signal quality, and for high capacitive electrodes, the displacement current method exhibits a higher signal-to-noise ratio. It is proposed that the displacement current method combined with high capacitive polymer-based electrodes is adequate to measure clusters of cells and whole organs. Our approach has a great potential in fundamental studies of drug discovery and safety pharmacology.

2017-07Journal article

Restricted access

Extracellular electrical recording of pH-triggered bursts in C6 glioma cell populations

Publication . Rocha, Paulo R. F.; Medeiros, Maria C. R.; Kintzel, Ulrike; Vogt, Johannes; Araújo, Inês; Mestre, Ana L. G.; Mailaender, Volker; Schlett, Paul; Droege, Melanie; Schneider, Leonid; Biscarini, Fabio; de Leeuw, Dago M.; Gomes, Henrique L.

Glioma patients often suffer from epileptic seizures because of the tumor's impact on the brain physiology. Using the rat glioma cell line C6 as a model system, we performed long-term live recordings of the electrical activity of glioma populations in an ultrasensitive detection method. The transducer exploits large-area electrodes that maximize double-layer capacitance, thus increasing the sensitivity. This strategy allowed us to record glioma electrical activity. We show that although glioma cells are nonelectrogenic, they display a remarkable electrical burst activity in time. The low-frequency current noise after cell adhesion is dominated by the flow of Na+ ions through voltage-gated ion channels. However, after an incubation period of many hours, the current noise markedly increased. This electric bursting phenomenon was not associated with apoptosis because the cells were viable and proliferative during the period of increased electric activity. We detected a rapid cell culture medium acidification accompanying this event. By using specific inhibitors, we showed that the electrical bursting activity was prompted by extracellular pH changes, which enhanced Na+ ion flux through the psalmotoxin 1-sensitive acid-sensing ion channels. Our model of pH-triggered bursting was unambiguously supported by deliberate, external acidification of the cell culture medium. This unexpected, acidosis-driven electrical activity is likely to directly perturb, in vivo, the functionality of the healthy neuronal network in the vicinity of the tumor bulk and may contribute to seizures in glioma patients.

2016-12Journal article

Open access