Inertial sensing of water content in tumor spheroids

Cellular water content governs the concentration of all biomolecules inside a cell, thereby influencing the physical and functional properties of the cell. However, measurements of water content in physiologically relevant cell culture models remain largely unavailable, particularly in 3D models such as tumor spheroids and organoids. Here, we achieve such measurements using a commercially available, industrial-grade, steel tube. The steel tube functions as a mechanical resonator that inertially senses the buoyant mass of particles. For microgram-scale particles ≥400 μm in diameter, we achieve <1% precision error in buoyant mass with a 5-minute acquisition interval. By sequentially measuring the buoyant mass of individual, glioblastoma patient-derived tumor spheroids in media of different densities and cell permeabilities, we determine the absolute and fractional (v/v) water content of the spheroids, along with their dry mass, volume, and density properties. We achieve ~0.4% precision error in fractional water content with a throughput of 3 spheroids per hour. This enables us to detect both inter-spheroid variability in fractional water content and acute responses to kinase inhibition. Overall, we establish a simple and accessible technique for quantifying water content in living 3D cell culture models, opening new avenues for studying biophysical regulation in multicellular systems.