Sensors and multi-sensor arrays are the basis of new technologies for the non-label monitoring of cell activity. In this paper we show that choroid plexus cells can be cultured on silicon chips and that sensors register in real time changes in their activity, constituting an interesting experimental paradigm for cell biology and medical research. To validate the signals recorded (metabolism = peri-cellular acidification, oxygen consumption = respiration; impedance = adhesion, cell shape and motility) we performed experiments with compounds that act in a well-known way on cells, influencing these parameters. Our in vitro model demonstrates the advantages of multi-sensor arrays in assessment and experimental characterization of dynamic cellular events--in this case in choroid plexus functions, however with applicability to other cell types as well.
Keywords: cell adhesion; cell cultures; cell respiration; chick embryo; choroid plexus; electron microscopy; impedance; peri-cellular acidosis; sensor arrays.