BiosensorChip - Exploration of a microfluidic chip-based electrochemical biosensor system for selective detection of bacterial extracellular vesicles

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Blaeser; Stefan Momma, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Medical Microbiology and Mycology, Hygiene, Molecular Infection Biology ; Biomaterials ; Biomedical Systems Technology ; Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 564094889

The BiosensorChip project is dedicated to the research of a microfluidic chip-based electrochemical biosensor system for the selective detection of bacterial extracellular vesicles produced by 2D and 3D printing technologies. Research on communication between bacteria and hosts has so far been mainly limited to the direct interaction of bacteria and host cells or the transfer of bacterial metabolites and biomolecules. However, several important functions of the gut microbiota for host physiology, e.g., the formation of the immune system, are difficult to explain in this way because the microbes normally remain in the gut lumen. Increasing evidence points to an alternative communication system in which functional molecules can be transferred from bacteria to their host without direct cell-cell contact via bacterially generated extracellular vesicles (EV). Isolation and analysis of microbial outer membrane vesicles from blood or other body fluids is therefore one of the most important tasks in developing diagnostic tools and understanding diseases affecting the microbiome. However, current technologies for isolation in this regard often rely on the physical properties of EVs. This often means technically demanding, time-consuming methods that are difficult to compare, especially between laboratories, and which also often fail due to the low concentrations of EVs. This is the starting point for the present research project, in which a microfluidic chip with integrated biosensor for the detection and selection of extracellular vesicles is being investigated. The aim is to establish a sensitive and at the same time cost-effective research platform for the investigation of EVs in blood plasma. On the one hand, this will allow broader research in this field, and on the other hand, it will provide the first opportunity to investigate changes in EVs in plasma as a function of disease. The knowledge gained from this project will make an important contribution to future research on extracellular vesicles in human blood under various pathological conditions and to understanding how EVs shape physiological and pathological processes in the body. In the field of medicine and pharmaceutical research, this will provide new impulses for basic therapeutic research as well as promising diagnostic translation possibilities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants