Cell activity analysis by capillary zone electrophoresis combined with specific cell staining

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was used to determine Hela cells activity with Hela treated by 0-46 μM methylmercury (MeHg) as the apoptosis model. The treated and untreated cells were stained by four different dyes (Janus Green B, Rhodamine 123, Neutral Red and Trypan Blue) and analyzed by CZE with UV/Vis detection. The absorbance of cells at 214 nm could indicate the degree of cell shrinkage and component leakage induced by MeHg. The intensity of cell absorbance at maximum visible absorption wavelength of dyes represented mitochondrial activity, lysosome phagocytosis ability and cell membrane integrity. For different concentrations of MeHg treatment, the change of cell activity was in good agreement with Janus Green B uptake colorimetric assay (R² =0.914) and 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-di-phenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay (R² =0.892). 80% of RSD (n=3) values were in the range of 0.5-15.0%. The established CZE method could be used to analyze intact cells with only UV-Vis detector. The CZE method has some features equivalent to the existing universal method, and it has the potential to be a universal tool for cell activity determination.