Conductive hybrid matrigel layer to enhance electrochemical signals of human embryonic stem cells

The precise monitoring of residual undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and their complete elimination are extremely important for teratoma-free stem cell-based therapies. Previously, we reported a novel in situ label-free cell-based sensing system that could detect 72,000 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) based on the unique electrochemical signals of hPSCs. However, considering the risk of teratoma formation from the fewer number of hESCs, the sensitivity of hPSCs-based chips needs to be further improved. In this study, we aimed to enhance the hESCs-specific electrochemical signals with modified hybrid film. By taking advantage of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and branched arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides to increase the adhesion as well as conductibility of hESCs, we were able to detect electrochemical signals of 25,000 cells (hESCs) with clear linearity of cell numbers. Consequently, the stepwise enhancement of the electrochemical detection platform would be important for assessing the risk of teratoma formation as a safe monitoring technique prior to clinical application of cells derived from hPSCs.