Abstract: Cell is the basic structural and biological unit of organisms. Conventional methods for detecting population cells often conceal individual differences between cells. Therefore, efficient single-cell analysis strategies are urgently needed for in-depth studies of cell life activities, revealing the mechanism of disease developments, and promoting individualized diagnosis and treatment. Micro-nano electrochemical sensors play an important role in real-time dynamic monitoring of single cells, due to its small size, high temporal and spatial resolution. At present, micro-nano electrochemical sensors have made important progress in the electrode preparation, high-performance sensing interface construction, theoretical analysis and breakthroughs have been made in single-cell real-time monitoring and related mechanism research. However, complex internal environment, low concentration of active molecules, and dynamic changes in time and space put forward higher requirements on the sensitivity and selectivity of micro-nano electrochemical sensors for single cell detection. Our research group has been engaged in the construction of micro-nano electrochemical sensing interface and its application in real-time dynamic monitoring of single cells and subcellular structures. This feature article mainly introduces our research progress in this field in the past 10 years, and discusses challenges and opportunities in the future.

DOI:10.1360/SSC-2020-0206