Institute of Medical Engineering, School of Basic Medical Science, Health Science Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Biosensor National Special Laboratory, Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Sensors (Basel). 2017 Dec 11;17(12):2881. doi: 10.3390/s17122881.
Taste and smell are very important chemical senses that provide indispensable information on food quality, potential mates and potential danger. In recent decades, much progress has been achieved regarding the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of taste and odor senses. Recently, biosensors have been developed for detecting odorants and tastants as well as for studying ligand-receptor interactions. This review summarizes the currently available biosensing approaches, which can be classified into two main categories: in vitro and in vivo approaches. The former is based on utilizing biological components such as taste and olfactory tissues, cells and receptors, as sensitive elements. The latter is dependent on signals recorded from animals' signaling pathways using implanted microelectrodes into living animals. Advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches, as well as differences in terms of sensing principles and applications are highlighted. The main current challenges, future trends and prospects of research in biomimetic taste and odor sensors are discussed.
味觉和嗅觉是非常重要的化学感觉，提供了关于食物质量、潜在配偶和潜在危险的不可或缺的信息。近几十年来，味觉和嗅觉感知的基础分子和细胞机制方面取得了很大进展。最近，已经开发出用于检测气味剂和味觉剂以及研究配体-受体相互作用的生物传感器。本综述总结了目前可用的生物传感方法，这些方法可以分为两大类：体外和体内方法。前者基于利用味觉和嗅觉组织、细胞和受体等生物成分作为敏感元件。后者依赖于通过向活体动物植入微电极从动物的信号通路中记录的信号。强调了这两种方法的优缺点，以及在传感原理和应用方面的差异。讨论了仿生味觉和嗅觉传感器的主要当前挑战、未来趋势和研究前景。
