Nano and Microsensors for Mammalian Cell Studies

Abstract

This review presents several sensors with dimensions at the nano- and micro-scale used for biological applications. Two types of cantilever beams employed as highly sensitive temperature sensors with biological applications will be presented. One type of cantilever beam is fabricated from composite materials and is operated in the deflection mode. In order to achieve the high sensitivity required for detection of heat generated by a single mammalian cell, the cantilever beam temperature sensor presented in this review was microprocessed with a length at the microscale and a thickness in the nanoscale dimension. The second type of cantilever beam presented in this review was operated in the resonant frequency regime. The working principle of the vibrating cantilever beam temperature sensor is based on shifts in resonant frequency in response to temperature variations generated by mammalian cells. Besides the cantilever beam biosensors, two biosensors based on the electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) used to monitor mammalian cells attachment and viability will be presented in this review. These ECIS sensors have dimensions at the microscale, with the gold films used for electrodes having thickness at the nanoscale. These micro/nano biosensors and their mammalian cell applications presented in the review demonstrates the diversity of the biosensor technology and applications.

In Vitro Methods for Measuring the Permeability of Cell Monolayers

“…Similar to the RTCA technique, the ECIS system is used for hepatological research [39]. Moreover, this technique was applied for preclinical kidney studies [41], as well as in a wide array of other fields, including cancer research, drug screening, pathology, food safety detection, the transendothelial migration of leukocytes and cancer cells, the migration of pathogens and monitoring the activity of neuronal cells [42,43].…”

Label-free cell based impedance measurements of ZnO nanoparticles—human lung cell interaction: a comparison with MTT, NR, Trypan blue and cloning efficiency assays

“…Starting from this need, we performed a comparison between high-throughput test real-time measurements by Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) with endpoint measurements of multiple independent assays (MTT, TB, NR, and cloning efficiency). ECIS is a label-free non-invasive method, based on impedance measurements: it can be used to monitor, in real-time, different kinetic physiological, and morphological characteristics of a culture cell population after exposure to several agents, such as xenobiotics [22,23]. A noteworthy characteristic of cell impedance measurements is the continuous monitoring of cell viability, so that effects at very different timescales can be revealed.…”

Nanocalorimeters for biomolecular analysis and cell metabolism monitoring

“…42,81 The resonator is placed in the vacuum, and the heat is conducted from the sample in the microfluidic channel via a heat guide. 29,82 Tohuku University's double-supported resonator (Fig. 13) showed a temperature and power resolution of 79 μK and 1.90 nW.…”