FET-based Multiplexed Sensing Towards Clinical Applications in Cancer Immunotherapy

Oncology research has been an exciting area for the application of electrical biosensors over the last few decades. Extremely high sensitivity of field-effect transistor-based (FET) biosensors directed the interest of scientists mostly to early cancer detection applications. However, the potential of electrical biosensors should not be limited to cancer diagnosis. With immunotherapy on the way to become the fourth pillar of cancer treatment, there will be an increasing demand for immunoassay testing before, during, and after the conduction of therapeutic treatment. Our previous results have demonstrated the usefulness of FET-based biosensors in the research and development of a safer engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells-based therapy. In this work, we continue to explore the practicality of electrical biosensors in the potential therapeutic setting of immunotherapy. Here, we present a complete stand-alone FET-based biosensing system relying on the extended gate (EG) concept. Our platform has an independent readout which is portable, compatible with multiplexed measurement, and self-sufficient for point-of-care sensing purposes. The extended gate sensing chip is disposable and can be tailored for the specific sensing application. Compared to the traditional ion-sensitive FET setup, EG FET provides improved flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and adaptiveness to individual needs making it a promising candidate for clinical application. During a universal CAR T-cells (UniCAR) therapy, “switch” molecules are injected into the patient’s bloodstream to activate the T-cell processes for attacking tumors. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the level of CAR T-cells and switch molecules for better control and decision-making related to personalized treatment. Here, we demonstrate the application of our EG FET platform in testing the therapeutic components of this treatment and discuss the related outlook for FET-based biosensors in immunotherapy. Our work endeavors to bridge the gap between clinical needs in immunotherapy and available sensing technology by broadening the application area for electrical biosensors.