Cell‐based biosensors treat living cells as sensing elements and are able to detect the functional information of biologically active analytes. Monitoring cytotoxicity with high sensitivity, rapidity and at low cost is of great interest in the fields of clinical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety and security. This research investigates the behaviour of different cell types on nanostructured architectures. The development of cell‐based assays using bioimpedance devices has the potential of screening anti‐cancer drugs; these have a potential impact for developing new techniques and tools for the analysis of cells in the bio‐pharma industry. Gold impedance electrodes have been successfully fabricated for impedance measurement on cells cultured on the electrode surface which was modified with gold nanopillars with a height of 60 nm and 150 nm diameter in a highly ordered layout thanks to the e‐beam lithography technique. This article investigates the effects on the sensitivity achieved with the ECIS (Electric Cell‐substrate Impedance Spectroscopy) measurements while monitoring the cytotoxicity of two different drugs (Antrodia Camphorata extract and Nicotine) on different cell lines (HeLa, A549 and BALBc 3T3) cultured on the nanostructured devices. The change of morphology of cells growing on the nanostructured electrodes was also investigated through SEM imaging.
Gold nanopillars have been successfully fabricated on top of interdigitated gold electrodes deposited on a Pyrex substrate and these were used for cytotoxicity monitoring on immortalized cells through the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique. These nanopillars were fabricated via contact metal deposition. E-beam lithography was used to define the pattern of nanopillars with dimensions of 150nm diameter and 500nm of distance between their edges in a honeycomb-like structure. These dimensions together with a, relatively, low aspect ratio (̴ 50nm tall) have been chosen in the hope that cell adhesion will be promoted. Cell adhesion to these novel nanopillars is important as their ultimate use will be for cytotoxicity testing of cell cultures. This novel tool could potentially increase the sensitivity of this kind of analysis compared to its plain counterpart.
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