Bioelectronics for bioelectricity: developing a platform to interrogate the role of bioelectricity in biological phenomena, including cancer

Context: Cells are electric! Bioelectricity within living organisms plays a role in multiple biological behaviours, from the electrophysiology of our nerves and muscles, to wound healing, organ development, and pathologies such as cancer. Bioelectronic devices allow us to sense and stimulate these bioelectric signals.

We are familiar with cardiac pacemakers and neural stimulators, which have improved the quality of life for many people. However, efforts are typically focussed on neural interfaces, and on the measurement and stimulation of action potentials, rather than on the effect of lower frequency, cross-membrane or cross-tissue voltage gradients.

Many biological behaviours linked to bioelectricity are hard to investigate, because of the difficulty of stimulating and resolving small changes in membrane and tissue voltages with both high spatial and temporal resolution. In cancer biology, the voltage across cancer cell membranes is often smaller than those of non-cancerous cells. This shift in cancer cell voltage might be an indicator of malignancy, or might be responsible for promoting cancer proliferation, migration and invasion. But probing and understanding these behaviours in multiple cells, over large areas, can be very challenging using existing tools.

Aims & objectives: To develop a new bioelectronic platform, suited to interrogating these bioelectric phenomena, that can become a research tool applicable to both cancer cell biology, and also a wide range of other bioelectric phenomena.

Research methodology: to develop this new platform using materials and techniques from the field of organic bioelectronics. Working closely with biological collaborators, to iterate this design to create a system to interrogate the role of specific cancer cell ion channels, and in later stages, broader biological questions.

This will be achieved using a range of microfabrication technologies to iteratively develop the platform. This will include designing and evaluating a range of device architectures, fabrication processes and material choices, both in terms of electronic performance and biocompatibility.

Working with biologists, cell culture assays will be used to assess the efficacy of the platform. This will involve high-throughput image-based cell profiling, a technique that combines microscopy with image analysis and big data techniques, to analyse subtle cell responses.

Alignment to EPSRC's strategies and research areas: This studentship is a discovery-led engineering project, with direct ties in to the Healthcare Technologies Theme. The new platform aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the role ion channels play in cancer progression, and in the long term inform targeted interventions. For example, in the form of a diagnostic tool, or as an electroceutical.

Collaborators: Professor William Brackenbury, Department of Biology, University of York