A three-dimensional electrochemical biosensor integrated with hydrogel for cells culture and lactate release monitoring

Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture has attracted increasing interest in many fields with the significant advantages in reproducing in vivo cell environment. For the characterization of biochemical information, electrochemical sensing has stood out from other techniques in real-time monitoring of living cells, and made an attempt to integrate with hydrogel for investigating the biological processes in 3D cell culture. However, it is still a challenge for real-time monitoring of cellular metabolites therein for the lack of electrochemical activity, and lactate (the product of aerobic glycolysis) is a typical example of such a predicament. Herein, we developed a 3D enzymatic electrochemical sensor that could be integrated with collagen hydrogel to monitor the lactate levels of cells cultured therein. Specifically, lactate oxidase immobilized on the outer surface of 3D sensor could oxidize lactate with H2O2 as a product, and Prussian blue nanoparticles electrodeposited on carbon nanotubes adsorbed electrode conferred the excellent and stable electrocatalytic performance to H2O2 for lactate detection. Further, the 3D sensor was integrated with collagen hydrogel with C6 glioma cells seeded therein and allowed the successful real-time monitoring of lactate released from C6 glioma cells, providing an effective detection platform for exploring the biochemical response in 3D cell culture systems.