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New publication assessing the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on cancer cells using adhesion noise spectroscopy

The paper by M. Ell (first author) and other co-authors from our institute and the Institute of Solid State Electronics on the assessment of the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on cancer cells using adhesion noise spectroscopy was published in the journal 'Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology'. Congratulations!

On the left is a gray cell body above a transistor, in the middle a gray and red flattening curve, on the right the image generated from measurement data overlaid with a microscope image.

© Maximilian Ell

Cell detection using adhesion noise (A) Top: Schematic cell on a measuring transistor. Below: Equivalent electronic circuit of cell-chip coupling (B) Methodology via cell adhesion noise ΔSv (C) Red contours: electrically detected cancer cells. Background: bright field microscopic images of cell aggregates

Abstract:

With cancer as one of the leading causes of death worldwide, there is a need for the development of accurate, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and fast drug-testing assays.

While the NCI 60 cell-line screening as the gold standard is based on a colorimetric assay, monitoring cells electrically constitutes a label-free and non-invasive tool to assess the cytotoxic effects of a chemotherapeutic treatment on cancer cells.

For decades, impedance-based cellular assays extensively investigated various cell characteristics affected by drug treatment but lack spatiotemporal resolution. With progress in microelectrode fabrication, high-density Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-based microelectrode arrays (MEAs) with subcellular resolution and time-continuous recording capability emerged as a potent alternative.

In this article, we present a new cell adhesion noise (CAN)-based electrical imaging technique to expand CMOS MEA cell-biology applications: CAN spectroscopy enables drug screening quantification with single-cell spatial resolution. The chemotherapeutic agent 5-Fluorouracil exerts a cytotoxic effect on colorectal cancer (CRC) cells hampering cell proliferation and lowering cell viability. For proof-of-concept, we found sufficient accuracy and reproducibility for CAN spectroscopy compared to a commercially available standard colorimetric biological assay. This label-free, non-invasive, and fast electrical imaging technique complements standardized cancer screening methods with significant advances over established impedance-based approaches.

 

Paper: Assessment of chemotherapeutic effects on cancer cells using adhesion noise spectroscopy, opens an external URL in a new window