Single-Cell Electrical Phenotyping Enabling the Classification of Mouse Tumor Samples.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Oncology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Single-cell electrical phenotyping offers label-free biophysical markers for tumor evaluation.
• Previous research differentiated tumor cell lines but not real tumor samples.
• Tumor classification using cellular electrical properties remains an underexplored area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the feasibility of using single-cell electrical properties for classifying distinct mouse tumor types.
• To establish and compare the specific membrane capacitance (Cm) and cytoplasm conductivity (σp) of two different mouse tumor models.

Main Methods:

• Developed custom microfluidic platforms for single-cell electrical phenotyping.
• Constructed mouse tumor models by injecting A549 (adenocarcinoma) and H1299 (large-cell carcinoma) cell lines.
• Performed immunohistochemistry to confirm tumor histology and single-cell electrical measurements (Cm and σp) on retrieved tumor samples.

Main Results:

• Immunohistochemistry confirmed adenocarcinoma for A549 and large-cell carcinoma for H1299 based tumors.
• A549 tumors exhibited Cm of 2.25 ± 0.50 μF/cm² and σp of 0.96 ± 0.20 S/m.
• H1299 tumors showed Cm of 1.76 ± 0.54 μF/cm² and σp of 1.35 ± 0.28 S/m.
• Significant differences in Cm and σp were observed between the two tumor types.

Conclusions:

• Single-cell electrical properties, specifically Cm and σp, are effective label-free biophysical markers for classifying distinct mouse tumor types.
• This study validates the use of cellular electrical phenotyping for differentiating between adenocarcinoma and large-cell carcinoma in a preclinical setting.