Electrocatalytic On-Site Oxygenation for Transplanted Cell-Based Therapies

Implantable cell therapies have been investigated as a promising approach for diseases requiring persistent treatment. However, oxygen insufficiency from a delay or lack of vascularization has been a key challenge. To address oxygen deficiency and support cells and tissues, exogenous oxygen delivery has been studied. While targeted gas circulation and decomposition of peroxides were employed for pancreatic islets and engineered therapeutic cells, however, they require bulky implants and transcutaneous supply lines, and are limited in oxygen production and its regulation.<br/>Here, we report an electrocatalytic on-site oxygenation (ecO2) platform that enables controlled bioelectronic oxygen production in physiological environments to maintain cell viability and therapeutic functionality of high-density engineered cells under hypoxic stress. Nanostructured sputtered iridium oxide serves as an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction in neutral pH. It enables a low oxygen evolution onset and presents selective oxygen generation without deleterious by-products over a 300 mV window of operation. ecO2 is capable of maintaining high cell loading (&gt;60k cell/mm³) in hypoxia in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that the exogenous oxygen-generating device can be readily integrated into bioelectronics and accomplish high cell loadings in miniaturized form factor. Our ecO2 platform can be deployed in broad bioengineering applications in cell therapies for chronic disease management.