# Three-dimensional field effect transistor arrays as a platform technology for intracellular electrophysiology recording.

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $306,144

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Most cellular behaviors and functions rely on cell signaling. A direct approach to detect this event is to record
cellular electrical potentials that are associated with various ionic kinetics during signal processing. It has been
shown that a wide range of high profile diseases, such as epilepsy, episodic ataxia, Alzheimer's, and
Parkinson's, may result from dysfunction of voltage-gated sodium, potassium, and calcium channels. Although
qualitative knowledge of the motions of these ions has been well studied, a quantitative understanding is still
missing because of the lack of tools that would allow high-spatiotemporal-resolution sampling of ion motions
inside cells. My group is dedicated to developing a soft electronic interface for cells and tissues. This synthetic
electronic interface will have similar mechanical properties to the biology, and can organically fuse with the
target cells and tissues, which will not only result in higher signal to noise ratio but also longer recording time
than conventional rigid and bulky recording systems. This five-year project aims to develop an innovative
cellular interface that is composed of an array of highly sensitive three-dimensional field effect transistor (FET)-
based sensors on a stretchable substrate. We use this innovative cellular interface to test the hypothesis that
ionic kinetics, including the speeds of ionic diffusion through ion channels in the cell membrane, ion drift driven
by ion pumps, and inter-cellular signal propagation, entail crucial quantitative information associated with
disorders of electrogenic cells, such as neurons, cardiomyocytes, and electrically excitable endocrine cells.
The sensors can simultaneously record different positions of a single cell or among different cells in a cellular
network, thus enabling us to measure and calculate the time- or speed-related kinetic factors of the ions (i.e.,
the time at which the ions move in or out of the cell membrane and the speed at which they do, respectively).
Also, using an FET design, we can amplify the recorded signal directly at the targeting location, realizing as
much as ten-fold signal amplification. Furthermore, we can differentiate the specific ionic species that are
actively functioning inside and outside of the cells by coating the surfaces of the FET sensors with phospholipid
bilayers that have the corresponding ion channels, allowing the specific ions to permeate the cell membrane,
which would result in a change in electrical potential that could be recorded by the FET sensors. The
information acquired will help gain new insights in cellular communications, with profound implications for brain
sciences, cardiac physiology, and clinical practices.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10029579
- **Project number:** 1R35GM138250-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sheng Xu
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $306,144
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10029579

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10029579, Three-dimensional field effect transistor arrays as a platform technology for intracellular electrophysiology recording. (1R35GM138250-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10029579. Licensed CC0.

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