Biohybrid microarrays--impedimetric biosensors with 3D in vitro tissues for toxicological and biomedical screening

To investigate the effectiveness of potential anticancer therapeutics or therapies, efficient screening methods are required. On the one hand, multicellular 3D aggregates (spheroids) are a powerful in vitro model for simulating the in vivo situation and on the other hand, planar electrode structures are generally highly suitable for automation and parallel testing. Here, the detection of the effect of active substances on spheroids positioned on electrodes of substrate integrated electrode arrays is exemplarily investigated. As a 3D tissue model a reaggregation system of T47D clone 11 tumor cells is used. The effect of cytotoxins (DMSO, Triton X-100) on spheroids can be detected by recording the effective impedance of planar electrodes covered by spheroids. The equivalent circuit model parameter of electrodes covered by cytotoxin treated spheroids are determined from recorded impedance spectra and compared to the parameter of electrodes covered by control spheroids as well as not covered electrodes. Spheroids on electrodes mainly influence the electrode impedance in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 1 MHz. The results are discussed in view of an optimal electrode/spheroid-interface for sensing the effects of therapeutics with high sensitivity.