Issue 24, 2012

Bioimpedance rise in response to histone deacetylase inhibitor is a marker of mammary cancer cells within a mixed culture of normal breast cells

Abstract

Detection of a few cancer cells within a complex cellular mixture is a key challenge presented by clinical human biopsy samples. We have designed and tested a microfabricated bioimpedance device that can detect a few human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells in a mixed cell culture model of a breast tissue sample. The normal tissue components were modelled using non-cancerous MCF10A human breast epithelial cells and normal human HS68 fibroblasts. The sensor is a silicon chip 0.5 cm in diameter that contains one counter electrode and four 40 μm-wide multi-branched sensing electrodes. The cells’ bioimpedances were characterized in pure monocultures and in mixed cell cultures following a brief cultivation on the sensor. After cell seeding, a stable bioimpedance signal was achieved indicative of cell attachment. A cancer-selective bioimpedance signal was elicited by addition of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor with selective actions on the cytoskeleton in breast cancer cells. SAHA elicited a 50% rise in peak bioimpedance in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by 15 h. In mixed cultures of MDA-MB-231, MCF10A, and HS68 cells, the contribution of cancer cells present in the mixture dominated impedance response to SAHA. A single adherent cancer cell on any one of four electrodes in a background of ∼100 normal cells resulted in ≥5% increase in bioimpedance. The estimated sensitivity of this device is therefore one cancer cell among a background of 400 normal cells or the equivalent of 25 cancer cells in a biopsy sample of 10 000 cells.

Graphical abstract: Bioimpedance rise in response to histone deacetylase inhibitor is a marker of mammary cancer cells within a mixed culture of normal breast cells

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Jul 2012
Accepted
28 Sep 2012
First published
03 Oct 2012

Lab Chip, 2012,12, 5168-5179

Bioimpedance rise in response to histone deacetylase inhibitor is a marker of mammary cancer cells within a mixed culture of normal breast cells

V. Srinivasaraghavan, J. Strobl and M. Agah, Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 5168 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40778G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements