Monitoring motion of confluent cells in tissue culture

Cell movements in confluent fibroblastic cell layers have been followed with a new instrumental method. Using the electric cell-substrate impedance sensor (ECIS), cell motions on the scale of nanometers are manifested as fluctuations in the impedance of small gold film electrodes that serve as cell substrata. These fluctuations have been recorded and numerically processed for cells at 27 and 37 degrees C, for cells deprived of all external nutrients over extended periods of time, and for cells exposed to different levels of cytochalasin D. Results suggest that the movements in confluent layers detected via ECIS can be correlated with cell metabolic activity.