Real-time monitoring of intracellular biochemical response in locally stretched single cell by a nanosensor

Mechanotransduction is the essential process that cells convert mechanical force into biochemical responses, and electrochemical sensor stands out from existing techniques by providing quantitative and real-time information about the biochemical signals during cellular mechanotransduction. However, the intracellular biochemical response evoked by mechanical force has been poorly monitored. In this paper, we report a method to apply local stretch on single cell and simultaneously monitor the ensuing intracellular biochemical signals. Specifically, a ferromagnetic micropipette was fabricated to locally stretch a single cell labeled with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles under the external magnetic field, and the SiC@Pt nanowire electrode (SiC@Pt NWE) was inserted into the cell to monitor the intracellular hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production induced by the local stretch. As a proof of concept, this work quantitatively investigated the elevated amount of H₂O₂ levels in single endothelial cell under different stretching amplitudes. This work puts forward a new research modality to manipulate and monitor the mechanotransduction at the single-cell level.