An Electrochemical Biosensor with Dual Signal Outputs: Toward Simultaneous Quantification of pH and O2 in the Brain upon Ischemia and in a Tumor during Cancer Starvation Therapy

Abstract

Herein, we develop a novel method for designing electrochemical biosensors with both current and potential signal outputs for the simultaneous determination of two species in a living system. Oxygen (O₂ ) and pH, simple and very important species, are employed as model molecules. By designing and synthesizing a new molecule, Hemin-aminoferrocene (Hemin-Fc), we create a single electrochemical biosensor for simultaneous detection and ratiometric quantification of O₂ and pH in the brain. The reduction peak current of the hemin group increases with the concentration of O₂ from 1.3 to 200.6 μm. Meanwhile, the peak potential positively shifts with decreasing pH from 8.0 to 5.5, resulting in the simultaneous determination of O₂ and pH. The Fc group can serve as an internal reference for ratiometric biosensing because its current and potential signals remain almost constant with variations of O₂ and pH. The developed biosensor has high temporal and spatial resolutions, as well as remarkable selectivity and accuracy, and is successfully applied in the real-time quantification of O₂ and pH in the brain upon ischemia, as well as in tumor during cancer therapy.

Keywords: analytical methods; brain chemistry; cancer therapy; oxygen; pH.