Label-free characterization of different kinds of cells using optoelectrokinetic-based microfluidics

We report a novel, to the best of our knowledge, method to rapidly characterize different kinds of cells and drug-treated cancer cells using a label-free biomarker of self-rotation in an optoelectrokinetics (OEK)-based microfluidic platform. OEK incorporates optics and electrokinetics into microfluidics, thereby offering a contact-free, label-free, and rapid approach to the cellular manipulation community. Self-rotational behaviors of four different kinds of cells were experimentally investigated by the frequency-sweeping of an AC bias potential in an optically induced nonuniform and irrotational electric field. The results revealed that these kinds of cells displayed a Gaussian distribution versus the AC frequency as well as different self-rotational speeds under the same conditions. Furthermore, the peak self-rotational speed varied from one kind of cell to another, with that of cancer cells higher than that of normal cells. In addition, MCF-7 cells treated by various concentrations of drug showed remarkably different self-rotational speeds. This finding suggests a high potential of developing a new label-free biomarker to rapidly distinguish different kinds of cancer cells and quantitatively monitor the response of cancer patients to various treatments.