Advanced Optogenetic-Based Biosensing and Related Biomaterials

Abstract

The ability to stimulate mammalian cells with light, brought along by optogenetic control, has significantly broadened our understanding of electrically excitable tissues. Backed by advanced (bio)materials, it has recently paved the way towards novel biosensing concepts supporting bio-analytics applications transversal to the main biomedical stream. The advancements concerning enabling biomaterials and related novel biosensing concepts involving optogenetics are reviewed with particular focus on the use of engineered cells for cell-based sensing platforms and the available toolbox (from mere actuators and reporters to novel multifunctional opto-chemogenetic tools) for optogenetic-enabled real-time cellular diagnostics and biosensor development. The key advantages of these modified cell-based biosensors concern both significantly faster (minutes instead of hours) and higher sensitivity detection of low concentrations of bioactive/toxic analytes (below the threshold concentrations in classical cellular sensors) as well as improved standardization as warranted by unified analytic platforms. These novel multimodal functional electro-optical label-free assays are reviewed among the key elements for optogenetic-based biosensing standardization. This focused review is a potential guide for materials researchers interested in biosensing based on light-responsive biomaterials and related analytic tools.

Multimodal Biosensing of Foodborne Pathogens

“…They depend on the interaction between light and the target analyte to generate a signal for detection. Optical biosensing platforms can be based on numerous principles, comprising fluorescence, surface-enhanced resonance (SPR), and reflectivity measurements [ 17 , 18 ]. Supramolecular self-assembly is another approach for enhancing biosensing platforms.…”

“…A functional electrochemical is introduced by incorporating a layer that is optically and electrochemically compatible atop an optical formation. Optical waveguide light mode spectroscopy (so-called OWLS) serves as a label-free procedure for investigating the adhesion, adsorption, desorption, and bio-specific attachment processes on biomaterial surfaces, like Si(TiO 2 ) [ 16 , 17 ]. In OWLS, a grating facilitates light coupling into a waveguide at specific angular values corresponding to transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes.…”

Diya – A universal light illumination platform for multiwell plate cultures

“… 1 , 2 Features like excellent spatial localization together with precise temporal and quantitative control render light advantageous over other stimulation techniques such as chemical induction. 3 In vivo engineering of photosensors, photoreceptors, and other light-sensitive mechanisms has led to the development of several optogenetic tools, 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 along with their utility in gene expression regulation, 4 protein-protein interaction 9 as well as many other applications. The sheer numbers of these tools and their diversity have led to the initiation of an ever-expanding online database.…”

Platforms for Optogenetic Stimulation and Feedback Control

“…Recent progress in synthetic biology has established light as a leading tool for observation as well as stimulation of synthetic constructs in cellular contexts ( MacDonald and Deans, 2016 ; Toettcher et al, 2011a ; Deisseroth, 2011 ; Müller et al, 2015 ; Krueger et al, 2019 ; Baumschlager and Khammash, 2021 ; Gheorghiu et al, 2021 ; Forlani and Di Ventura, 2021 ; Pérez et al, 2021 ). Light can be precisely localized in space and instantaneously turned on and off.…”

“…This use of light to influence cellular processes is commonly referred to as optogenetics ( Toettcher et al, 2011a ; Deisseroth, 2011 ). Several optogenetic tools, pertaining to different cell types and spanning different wavelengths of light, have been developed and studied in the last decade ( Tischer and Weiner, 2014 ; Müller et al, 2015 ; Repina et al, 2017 ; Kolar et al, 2018 ; Baumschlager and Khammash, 2021 ; Gheorghiu et al, 2021 ; Forlani and Di Ventura, 2021 ; Pérez et al, 2021 ). Applications of these optogenetic tools have been expanding rapidly in various disciplines, such as developmental biology ( Johnson and Toettcher, 2018 ; Krueger et al, 2019 ).…”