Specific membrane capacitance, cytoplasm conductivity and instantaneous Young’s modulus of single tumour cells

Abstract

As label-free biomarkers, biophysical properties of cells are widely used for cell type classification. However, intrinsic biophysical markers, e.g., specific membrane capacitance (C specific membrane ), cytoplasm conductivity (σ conductivity ) and instantaneous Young's modulus (E instantaneous ) measured for hundreds of single cells were not yet reported. In this study, single cells in suspension (adherent cells treated with trypsin) were aspirated through a microfluidic constriction channel at 25°C, and the entry processes and impedance profiles were recorded and translated to C specific membrane , σ conductivity and E instantaneous . C specific membrane , σ conductivity and E instantaneous of five cell types were quantified as 2.10 ± 0.38 μF cm − 2 , 0.91 ± 0.15 S m − 1 and 5.52 ± 0.95 kPa for H460 cells (n cell = 437); 2.52 ± 0.54 μF cm − 2 , 0.83 ± 0.12 S m − 1 and 5.54 ± 1.04 kPa for H446 cells (n cell = 410); 2.45 ± 0.57 μF cm − 2 , 0.99 ± 0.18 S m − 1 and 5.16 ± 1.68 kPa for A549 cells (n cell = 442); 1.86 ± 0.31 μF cm − 2 , 1.07 ± 0.18 S m − 1 and 3.86 ± 0.81 kPa for 95D cells (n cell = 415); 2.03 ± 0.35 μF cm − 2 , 0.99 ± 0.16 S m − 1 and 3.49 ± 0.70 kPa for 95C cells (n cell = 290). The database of C specific membrane , σ conductivity and E instantaneous may serve as a reference for future studies of cellular biophysical properties.

Membrane capacitance of thousands of single white blood cells

“…were translated based on the distributed model, the values should be further decreased. In addition, the standard deviation to average ratios were approximately 10% for granulocytes and approximately 20% for lymphocytes, respectively, which were comparable with values reported by tumour cells [30,31], indicating the existence of electrical property variations among the same type of individual cells.…”

Towards non-invasive characterisation of coronary stent re-endothelialisation – An in-vitro, electrical impedance study

“…The reactance of a cell is determined by the capacitive effect of the cell membrane and various organelles within [ 57 , 58 ]. The shape and arrangements of these organelles and membranes are matched to each cell’s specific functionality and it is therefore reasonable to assume that capacitive reactance measurements of these elements of the cell will reveal differences between cell types [ 26 , 59 ], as presented here. It is acknowledged that impedance measured across a frequency range will report results from different regions of a cell monolayer, with the current path at low frequencies bypassing the cell membrane and measuring the paracellular space whilst higher frequencies are transcellular, through the cells interior [ 43 , 58 , 60 , 61 ].…”

Cells Electrical Characterization: Dielectric Properties, Mixture, and Modeling Theories

“…e electrical traits of cells provide vision and crucial data to help in the insights of the complicated physiological states. Cells that undergo aberrations or get any kind of infections might exhibit different ion movements [53] and change in conductivity and resistance of cytoplasm [54][55][56][57] along with distortions in shape and size [58]. For example, malaria causes infection in RBCs by Plasmodium falciparum, which leads to deformability [34,59,60].…”

“…is equation is called the Maxwell-Wagner equation, which states that if the volume concentration (υ c ) of the biological cells rises from zero, then the suspension permittivity rises linearly with the rise in cell concentration. To obtain the effective mixture equations, segregate the real and imaginary terms of (56). e relationships between ε eff ′ and σ eff ′ appear as follows:…”

“…e new volume fraction is Δύ c /(1 − Δύ c ), while ε * m changes to ε * mix . Inserting these substitutions into the Maxwell-Wagner equation, (56) yields…”