On-chip label-free determination of cell survival rate

Qiang Zi; Weiping Ding; Chunli Sun; Shibo Li; Dayong Gao; Liqun He; Jing Liu; Lei Xu; Bensheng Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2019.111820

On-chip label-free determination of cell survival rate

Biosens Bioelectron. 2020 Jan 15:148:111820. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111820. Epub 2019 Oct 28.

Authors

Qiang Zi¹, Weiping Ding², Chunli Sun¹, Shibo Li¹, Dayong Gao³, Liqun He⁴, Jing Liu⁵, Lei Xu⁶, Bensheng Qiu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China; Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
² Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China; Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China. Electronic address: wpdings@ustc.edu.cn.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁴ Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Biofabrication of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Science, Hefei University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
⁶ Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
⁷ Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China; Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China. Electronic address: bqiu@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 31706174
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111820

Abstract

Cell survival rate (CSR) is a very important parameter in biological and medical fields. Today, the routine method to determine this parameter is time-consuming; it also makes the labeled cells no longer useable for subsequent experiments. Here, we developed an on-chip label-free method for determining the CSR. For the method, a hypertonic stimulus was designed to create volume differences between living and dead cells, and then, the differences were characterized with measurements of impedance as the cells flowed through two electrodes. Based on the method, a microfluidic hypertonic stimulus-based impedance flow cytometry chip (HSIFC) was designed, and the localized function of the HSIFC was verified. Finally, the performance of the HSIFC was confirmed by measuring the different CSRs for the different types of cells. The results show that the HSIFC can accurately determine the CSR, and the accuracy is comparable to that of flow cytometry. This work paves the way for the label-free evaluation of CSR after various cell manipulations and treatments on the chip and promotes the versatility of lab-on-a-chip devices.

Keywords: Cell survival rate; Cell volume; Hypertonic stimulus; Impedance analysis; Microfluidic chip.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
Cell Size
Cell Survival
Endothelial Cells / cytology*
Equipment Design
Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
Humans
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation
Osmotic Pressure