A novel cell-based biosensor for bitter taste detection in vitro

In natural environment, numerous bitter tasting compounds are toxic and noxious, which may cause danger for human when taken in mistakenly. This paper introduces a novel cell-based biosensor which could respond to bitter compounds sensitively and selectively. TRCs were utilized as sensing elements since they can interact with bitter compounds. 60-channel (microelectrode array) MEA chips were employed to record the extracellular potentials of TRCs. The responses of TRCs were analysed at the conditions of control, bitter stimulations and after-wash. The results showed that different bitter stimuli such as quinine, cycloheximide and denatonium significantly evoked specific responses respectively. Electrophysiological characteristics, such as firing rates and amplitudes, had visible increase with concentrations of bitterness. The result of principal component analysis (PCA) proved that this cell-based biosensor could discriminate quinine, cycloheximide and denatonium effectively. All these results demonstrate that this hybrid biosensor is reliable and effective in detection and discrimination of these bitter compounds. This study may provide a promising approach for detection of other bitter compounds.