MXene/polymer dot-decorated flexible sensor for cancer cell-responsive hydrogel with tunable elastic modulus, porosity, and conductivity

Anneshwa Dey; Kaustuv Roy; Sunu Hangma Subba; Gibaek Lee; Sung Young Park

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126874

MXene/polymer dot-decorated flexible sensor for cancer cell-responsive hydrogel with tunable elastic modulus, porosity, and conductivity

Talanta. 2024 Sep 14:281:126874. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126874. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Anneshwa Dey¹, Kaustuv Roy¹, Sunu Hangma Subba¹, Gibaek Lee², Sung Young Park³

Affiliations

¹ Department of IT and Energy Convergence, (BK21 FOUR), Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: glee@ut.ac.kr.
³ Department of IT and Energy Convergence, (BK21 FOUR), Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: parkchem@ut.ac.kr.

PMID: 39277932
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126874

Abstract

This study reports a facile strategy for cancer cell modulated mechanically and electronically tunable hydrogel based on MXene-immobilized hyaluronic acid polymer dot (M-PD). Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as H₂O₂ in cancer cells cleave MXene owing to the oxygen-titanium affinity of Ti₃C₂T_x, altering the physico-mechanical, electrochemical, and fluorescence (FL) properties of the sensor. The H₂O₂-induced cleavage of M-PD in the hydrogel causes the quenched FL intensity by the Forster resonance energy transfer effect (FRET) to recover, alongside an increase in pore size, influencing shifts in hydrogen bonding and inducing viscoelastic changes in the flexible sensor. This caused physico-mechanical alterations in the sensor, modified the viscosity (G' decreased by 98.7%), and enhanced the stretchability. Further, in vitro electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) highlighted the distinct results for cancer cells (B16F10: 8.10 kΩ, MDA-MB-231: 8.30 kΩ), and normal cells (CHO-K1: 3.40 kΩ), showcasing electrochemical differentiation between these cells. Additionally, the flexible M-PD hydrogel sensor exhibits high sensitivity, with detection limits of 2.58 cells/well (CHO-K1), 0.96 cells/well (B16F10), and 1.20 cells/well (MDA-MB-231). Finally, real-time cancer monitoring was achieved by integrating the M-PD hydrogel with a wireless setup on a smartphone.

Keywords: Adhesive; Cancer sensing; Conductive hydrogel; Flexible sensor; ROS-responsive.