A biomimetic taste receptor cell-based biosensor for electrophysiology recording and acidic sensation

Taste receptor cell, the taste sensation organ with its intrinsic advantage of high sensitivity, specificity, fast response and powerful ability of information processing from taste system, can recognize taste substances. In order to investigate the electrophysiological signals of taste receptor cells and realize acidic sensation in a biomimetic manner, a cell-based biosensor platform of neuron–silicon interface was designed and characterized. Acid-sensing taste receptor cells were cultured on light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) to recognize sour stimuli as compared with non-acid solutions. A computational model of acid-sensing taste receptor cells was constructed to simulate the action potentials of taste receptor cells and to help decode the extracellular signals recorded by LAPS. The temporal firing and characteristic features from LAPS recordings upon acidic solutions demonstrate that this kind of hybrid biosensor based on taste receptor cells and LAPS can realize acidic sensation. This study also provides a prototype of a novel biosensor which deploys the sensory transduction and decoding mechanism from biology to realize chemosensing, potentially in a non-invasive and long-term manner.