Assessment of cytotoxicity by impedance spectroscopy

This paper describes a simple and convenient method to monitor on-line cell adhesion by electrical impedance measurements. Immortalized mouse fibroblasts, BALB/3T3, were cultured onto interdigitated electrode structures integrated into the bottom of an in-house fabricated device. Impedance modulus, phase, real and imaginary parts were considered separately and plotted as function of frequency and time to better understand and select the component giving more information on cell adhesion changes. For cytotoxicity assessment, the cells were treated with different concentrations of sodium arsenite used as model toxicant and their responses were monitored on-line. The half inhibition concentration, the required concentration to achieve 50% inhibition, derived from the measurements fall between the results obtained using standard 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test and colony forming efficiency assay confirming the good sensitivity of the system. In term of impedance signal, the modulus results was found to be the most sensitive of the considered components for cytotoxicity testing of chemicals.