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In vitro Monitoring of Extracellular pH in Real-Time
Published on: June 3, 2021
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In Situ Live Monitoring of Extracellular Acidosis near Cancer Cells Using Digital Microfluidics with an Integrated
Wenting Qiu1, Xuyan Lin1, Stefan Nagl1
1Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
Analytical Chemistry
|August 22, 2024
Summary
This study presents a new digital microfluidic platform for real-time monitoring of cell metabolism via extracellular pH changes. It accurately detects cancer cell acidification, distinguishing them from healthy cells.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Biology
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Monitoring cellular metabolism is crucial for understanding cell function and disease.
- Extracellular acidification is a key indicator of metabolic activity, particularly glycolysis.
- Existing methods for pH monitoring can be invasive or lack real-time capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a digital microfluidic (DMF) platform for live monitoring of extracellular acidification.
- To investigate the metabolic activity of different cell types, including cancer and healthy cells.
- To enable label-free, noninvasive, and real-time pH detection.
Main Methods:
- Integration of an optical pH sensor array onto a DMF interface.
- Utilizing a fluorescent pH sensor film (fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate immobilized on a polymer).
- Employing polydopamine surface modification for direct cell attachment and rapid pH detection.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated miniaturized, label-free, and noninvasive monitoring of extracellular pH (pHe) in the range of 5.0-8.0.
- Successfully detected rapid extracellular acidification by proliferating MCF-7 and A549 cancer cells within 2 minutes of medium exchange.
- Showed no significant pHe change for HUVEC healthy cells under the same conditions.
Conclusions:
- The developed DMF platform enables sensitive and rapid real-time monitoring of cell metabolism through extracellular acidification.
- This technology can differentiate cancer cells from healthy cells based on their metabolic profiles.
- The platform holds potential for studying cellular responses to various metabolic conditions and therapeutic interventions.
