ArticleAnalytica chimica acta2025
A portable and sensitive DNA-based electrochemical sensor for detecting piconewton-scale cellular forces.
Article in Analytica chimica acta, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCell-generated forces are a key player in cell biology, especially during cellular shape formation, migration, cancer development, and immune response. The measurement of forces exerted and experienced by cells is fundamental in understanding these mechanosensitive cellular behaviors. While cell-generated forces can now be detected based on techniques like fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, optical/magnetic tweezers, however, most of these approaches rely on complicated instruments or materials, as well as skilled operators, which could limit their potential broad applications in regular biological laboratories.
resultsA new type of smartphone-based electrochemical sensor is developed here for cellular force measurement. In this system, a double-stranded DNA-based force probe, known as tension gauge tether, is attached to the surface of a gold screen-printed electrode, which is then incorporated into a portable smartphone-based electrochemical device. Cellular force-induced DNA detachment on the sensor surface results in multiple redox reporters to reach the surface of the electrode and generate enhanced electrochemical signals. To further improve the sensitivity, a CRISPR-Cas12a system has also been incorporated to cleave the remaining surface-attached anchor DNA strand. Using integrin-mediated tension as an example, piconewton-scale adhesion forces generated by ≤ 10 HeLa cells could now be reliably detected. Meanwhile, the threshold forces of these electrochemical sensors can also be modularly tuned to detect different levels of cellular forces. SIGNIFICANCE: These novel DNA-based highly sensitive, portable, cost-efficient, and easy-to-use electrochemical sensors can be potentially powerful tools for detecting different cell-generated molecular forces. Functioning as complementary tools with traction force microscopy and fluorescent probes, these electrochemical sensors can be straightforwardly applied in regular biological laboratories for understanding the basic mechanical principles of cell signaling and for developing novel strategies and materials in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cell therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.