Water is a biomarker of changes in the cellular environment in live animals

Abstract

The biological processes that are associated with the physiological fitness state of a cell comprise a diverse set of molecular events. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial dysfunction, telomere shortening, genomic instability, epigenetic changes, protein aggregation, and down-regulation of quality control mechanisms are all hallmarks of cellular decline. Stress-related and decline-related changes can be assayed, but usually through means that are highly disruptive to living cells and tissues. Biomarkers for organismal decline and aging are urgently needed for diagnostic and drug development. Our goal in this study is to provide a proof-of-concept for a non-invasive assay of global molecular events in the cytoplasm of living animals. We show that Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy (MDS) can be used to determine the hydration state of the intracellular environment in live C. elegans worms. MDS spectra were correlative with altered states in the cellular protein folding environment known to be associated with previously described mutations in the C. elegans lifespan and stress-response pathways.

Complex Permittivity of Ex-Vivo Human, Bovine and Porcine Brain Tissues in the Microwave Frequency Range

“…Additionally, free water has a larger permittivity than bound water as bound water exhibits a permittivity value closer to that of dry matter, as reported in [ 42 ]. Thus, a reasonable explanation for the difference in permittivity of brains H1 and H2 could be in the changes that were ongoing in the elderly brain, causing it to have an increase in extracellular free water, especially because the biological tissue permittivity in the gigahertz frequency range is mostly influenced by the polarization of free water molecules [ 43 ].…”

Effects of Water Restriction and Water Replenishment on the Content of Body Water with Bioelectrical Impedance among Young Adults in Baoding, China: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

“…Water was of vital importance for the development of life on Earth [ 1 ]. Furthermore, water is a biomarker of changes in the cellular environment in live animals [ 2 ]. For humans, water is the main component of the body and is essential for cellular homeostasis [ 3 ].…”

Detection of Heterogeneous Cells in Cell Spheroids by Applying High-Frequency Second-Order Sensitivity Matrix Electrical Impedance Tomography (HSSM-EIT)

“…1 (b-1) shows the representation of α, β, and γ dispersions, where fα, fβ, and fγ are the frequency of α-dispersion, β-dispersion, and γdispersion; ∆fα, ∆fβ, and ∆fγ are the frequency range of αdispersion, β-dispersion, and γ-dispersion [21]. Polarization reasons in the complex permittivity of biological cells are generally considered to be caused by α-dispersion due to electrode polarization, β-dispersion due to the interfacial polarization of cell membrane, and γ-dispersion due to the reorientation of small molecules [17]. Thus, the measurement targets from low to high frequencies are electric double layer (EDL) of the electrodes [22], ion diffusion in extracellular fluid, cellular organization, macromolecular rotation, and small molecule polarization, respectively [17].…”

“…Polarization reasons in the complex permittivity of biological cells are generally considered to be caused by α-dispersion due to electrode polarization, β-dispersion due to the interfacial polarization of cell membrane, and γ-dispersion due to the reorientation of small molecules [17]. Thus, the measurement targets from low to high frequencies are electric double layer (EDL) of the electrodes [22], ion diffusion in extracellular fluid, cellular organization, macromolecular rotation, and small molecule polarization, respectively [17]. In previous studies, the injected current's frequency was set as 10 kHz to detect the outer surface of the cell spheroid but was slightly inadequate for detecting the intracellular field [23], [24].…”

“…However, these methods have some shortcomings which are: 1) Due to the capacitive property of the cell membrane, the low-frequency injected current only passes through the extracellular region. The EIT method at a low frequency only detects the cell membrane and extracellular fluid and does not reflect the intracellular composition [17]. 2) The EIT method using the Jacobian matrix as the sensitivity matrix is unsuitable for reconstructing complex fields.…”