# Real-time biosensor for mapping the function of the pancreas

> **NIH NIH OT2** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $1,000,000

## Abstract

Project Summary: The capability to manipulate pancreatic function through peripheral nerve stimulation offers
exciting therapeutic potential, but will require a deeper understanding of underlying molecular biology as well as
inter-organ signaling and communication. Such processes are difficult to study in vivo because they occur on
time-scales of seconds to minutes—far faster than can be measured by conventional assays. The primary goal
of this project is to develop real-time in vivo biosensors that can continuously measure the physiological
concentrations of glucose, insulin and glucagon in specific areas of the pancreas of freely moving animals. Our
biosensors will detect these three biomarkers with high sensitivity (pM~nM), spatial resolution (~10 m) and
temporal resolution (~1 minute), and thereby offer unprecedented insights into the molecular biology of the
pancreas. We will be building upon aptamer biosensor technology previously developed by our group, with which
we have already demonstrated the first continuous measurement of small molecule drugs in vivo as well as
closed-loop feedback control in live animals. This is a “platform” technology that can be readily adapted to
measure a wide range of biomarkers by swapping the aptamer probes, as we have demonstrated previously.
Upon successful development of this real-time biosensor for the pancreas, we will expand the range of targets
to 20 other biomarkers, including neuromodulators and cytokines that play important roles in peripheral nerve
stimulation. To make these biosensor systems available to other researchers, a startup company (RT Biotech)
will refine the prototypes and produce them at low volumes for other groups within the SPARC program within 3
years.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10455342
- **Project number:** 3OT2OD025342-01S3
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** HYONGSOK Tom SOH
- **Activity code:** OT2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,000,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-03-15 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10455342

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10455342, Real-time biosensor for mapping the function of the pancreas (3OT2OD025342-01S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10455342. Licensed CC0.

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