Chitosan to Connect Biology to Electronics: Fabricating the Bio-Device Interface and Communicating Across This Interface

Polymers

Eunkyoung Kim²  Yuan Xiong³  Yi Cheng⁴  Hsuan-Chen Wu²  Yi Liu²  Brian H. Morrow¹  Hadar Ben-Yoav⁵  Reza Ghodssi⁵  Gary W. Rubloff⁴  Jana Shen¹  William E. Bentley²  Xiaowen Shi³  Gregory F. Payne² 

[1] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; E-Mails:;Institute for Biosystems and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, 5115 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA; E-Mails:;School of Resource and Environmental Science, Hubei Biomass-Resource Chemistry, Environmental Biotechnology Key Laboratory, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China; E-Mails:;Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; E-Mails:;Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: bioelectronics;    biofabrication;    biosensing;    catechol;    chitosan;    electrochemistry;    electrodeposition;    redox-activity;    redox-capacitor;    tyrosinase;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym7010001

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Individually, advances in microelectronics and biology transformed the way we live our lives. However, there remain few examples in which biology and electronics have been interfaced to create synergistic capabilities. We believe there are two major challenges to the integration of biological components into microelectronic systems: (i) assembly of the biological components at an electrode address, and (ii) communication between the assembled biological components and the underlying electrode. Chitosan possesses a unique combination of properties to meet these challenges and serve as an effective bio-device interface material. For assembly, chitosan’s pH-responsive film-forming properties allow it to “recognize” electrode-imposed signals and respond by self-assembling as a stable hydrogel film through a cathodic electrodeposition mechanism. A separate anodic electrodeposition mechanism was recently reported and this also allows chitosan hydrogel films to be assembled at an electrode address. Protein-based biofunctionality can be conferred to electrodeposited films through a variety of physical, chemical and biological methods. For communication, we are investigating redox-active catechol-modified chitosan films as an interface to bridge redox-based communication between biology and an electrode. Despite significant progress over the last decade, many questions still remain which warrants even deeper study of chitosan’s structure, properties, and functions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.