Graphene oxide based recyclable in vivo device for amperometric monitoring of interferon-γ in inflammatory mice

Abstract

Cytokine sensing is challenging due to their typically low abundances in physiological conditions. Nanomaterial fabricated interfaces demonstrated unique advantages in ultrasensitive sensing. Here, we demonstrate an amperometric sensing device based on graphene oxide (GO) and structure-switching aptamers for long-term detection of cytokines in a living organism. The device incorporates a single layer of GO acting as a signal amplifier on glassy carbon electrodes. The hairpin aptamers specific to interferon-γ (IFN-γ), which were loaded with redox probes, are covalently attached to GO to serve as biorecognition moieties. IFN-γ was able to trigger the configuration change of aptamers while releasing the trapped redox probes to introduce the electrochemical signal. This in vivo device was capable of quantitatively and dynamically detecting IFN-γ down to 1.3 pg mL⁻¹ secreted by immune cells in cell culture medium with no baseline drift even at a high concentration of other nonspecific proteins. The biocompatible devices were also implanted into subcutaneous tissue of enteritis mice, where they performed precise detection of IFN-γ over 48 h without using physical barriers or active drift correction algorithms. Moreover, the device could be reused even after multiple rounds of regeneration of the sensing interface.