MOF Composite Nanogel Printed Sensor for Tracking Glucose Consumption in Growing Cells and Uptake at the Cellular Level

A simple one-step process to synthesize a metal-coordinated polymeric hydrogel composite for the preparation of an automated printed sensor is proposed. In this work, the chelation mode of benzene-1,4-dithiocarboxamide is used as a precursor to synthesize nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo)-metal-organic framework (MOF) (NiMo-MOF), and the composite (NiMo-MOF@nanogel) is achieved by a formation reaction between NiMo-MOF and functionalized polymer of polyaniline in the presence of chitosan. The synthesized NiMo-MOF and NiMo-MOF@nanogel composite is prepared at various temperatures and characterized with chemical, electrochemical, and surface analysis. The flower-shaped nanoparticles are obtained at a low 120°C. The sensor reveals a wide dynamic range with a lower detection limit (80 nm) for the catalytic oxidation of glucose. It is observed that the catalytic performances are enhanced with the composite with nanogel. The reliability is assessed by monitoring glucose consumption in cell (liver, lung, and muscle) growth stages for a period of 6 days and measure intracellular free glucose at cellular-levels, to verify the hypothesis that different types of individual single cancer cells can indeed show different intracellular glucose levels. This platform is great promise as a diagnostic tool for monitoring cancer progression and to distinguish various cancer cells in heterogeneous tissue biopsies.