Nanoporous membrane-based cell chip for the study of anti-cancer drug effect of retinoic acid with impedance spectroscopy.

This paper presents a novel microchip with nanoporous anodic alumina membrane for the study of anti-cancer drug effect of retinoic acid (RA) on human esophageal squamous epithelial KYSE30 cancer cells in vitro with impedance spectroscopy. The impedance experiments with 0.01 M retinoic acid (RA) were explored for the study of anti-cancer drug effects on KYSE30 cancer cells. The impedance was monitored in the time domain at 0.1 Hz. After addition of 0.01 M RA to the cell chip, the impedance magnitude decreased with time from the value with confluent cell layer and returned to the initial base line after around 12h. The fluorescence experiments testified that this impedance decrease was due to the cell morphology change induced by RA.

Impedance studies of bio-behavior and chemosensitivity of cancer cells by micro-electrode arrays.

Impedimetric analysis on adherently growing cells by micro-electrodes provides information related to cell number, cell adhesion and cellular morphology. In this study, cell-based biosensor with micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) was used to monitor the culture behavior of mammalian cancer cells and evaluate the chemosensitivity of anti-cancer drugs using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The platinum electrode arrays were fabricated by semiconductor technology to a 10 x 10 pattern, with diameter of 80 microm of each electrode. The human oesophageal cancer cell lines (KYSE 30) were cultured on the surface of the electrodes with the pre-coated fibronectin, the connecting protein for tumor cells metastasis and adhesion in extracellular matrix. Morphology changes during cells adhesion, spreading, and proliferation can be detected by impedimetric analysis in a real time and non-invasive way. Cisplatin was added to cells for potential drug screening applications. The experimental results show that this well-known anti-cancer drug has characteristic chemosensitivity effects on KYSE 30 cells which can be detected by MEA. Thus, this cell-based chip provides a useful analytical method for cancer research.