Nano-Electrochemical Characterization of a 3D Bioprinted Cervical Tumor Model.

Current cancer research is limited by the availability of reliable in vivo and in vitro models that are able to reproduce the fundamental hallmarks of cancer. Animal experimentation is of paramount importance in the progress of research, but it is becoming more evident that it has several limitations due to the numerous differences between animal tissues and real, in vivo human tissues. 3D bioprinting techniques have become an attractive tool for many basic and applied research fields. Concerning cancer, this technology has enabled the development of three-dimensional in vitro tumor models that recreate the characteristics of real tissues and look extremely promising for studying cancer cell biology. As 3D bioprinting is a relatively recently developed technique, there is still a lack of characterization of the chemical cellular microenvironment of 3D bioprinted constructs. In this work, we fabricated a cervical tumor model obtained by 3D bioprinting of HeLa cells in an alginate-based matrix. Characterization of the spheroid population obtained as a function of culturing time was performed by phase-contrast and confocal fluorescence microscopies. Scanning electrochemical microscopy and platinum nanoelectrodes were employed to characterize oxygen concentrations-a fundamental characteristic of the cellular microenvironment-with a high spatial resolution within the 3D bioprinted cervical tumor model; we also demonstrated that the diffusion of a molecular model of drugs in the 3D bioprinted construct, in which the spheroids were embedded, could be measured quantitatively over time using scanning electrochemical microscopy.

Glucose micro-biosensor for scanning electrochemical microscopy characterization of cellular metabolism in hypoxic microenvironments.

Mapping of the metabolic activity of tumor tissues represents a fundamental approach to better identify the tumor type, elucidate metastatic mechanisms and support the development of targeted cancer therapies. The spatially resolved quantification of Warburg effect key metabolites, such as glucose and lactate, is essential. Miniaturized electrochemical biosensors scanned over cancer cells and tumor tissue to visualize the metabolic characteristics of a tumor is attractive but very challenging due to the limited oxygen availability in the hypoxic environments of tumors that impedes the reliable applicability of glucose oxidase-based glucose micro-biosensors. Herein, the development and application of a new glucose micro-biosensor is presented that can be reliably operated under hypoxic conditions. The micro-biosensor is fabricated in a one-step synthesis by entrapping during the electrochemically driven growth of a polymeric matrix on a platinum microelectrode glucose oxidase and a catalytically active Prussian blue type aggregate and mediator. The as-obtained functionalization improves significantly the sensitivity of the developed micro-biosensor for glucose detection under hypoxic conditions compared to normoxic conditions. By using the micro-biosensor as non-invasive sensing probe in Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM), the glucose uptake by a breast metastatic adenocarcinoma cell line, with an epithelial morphology, is measured.

Electrochemical monitoring of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species and redox balance in living cells.

Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in cells and cell redox balance are of great interest in live cells as they are correlated to several pathological and physiological conditions of living cells. ROS and RNS detection is limited due to their spatially restricted abundance: they are usually located in sub-cellular areas (e.g., in specific organelles) at low concentration. In this work, we will review and highlight the electrochemical approach to this bio-analytical issue. Combining electrochemical methods and miniaturization strategies, specific, highly sensitive, time, and spatially resolved measurements of cellular oxidative stress and redox balance analysis are possible. Graphical abstract In this work, we highlight and review the use of electrochemistry for the highly spatial and temporal resolved detection of ROS/RNS levels and of redox balance in living cells. These levels are central in several pathological and physiological conditions and the electrochemical approach is a vibrant bio-analytical trend in this field.