Impedance Monitoring Of Cell Adhesion, Migration And Differentiation For Drug Screening

Electrical impedance measurements allow real-time monitoring of cell culture under different stimuli for both fundamental research and advanced applications. In this thesis work, we developed a systematic investigation of impedance-based cell monitoring techniques by using micro-and nano-fabricated substrates and/or devices. Firstly, the impedance monitoring of adherent cells cultured on the surface of mesoporous membranes (porous size much small than that of cells) was performed, showing cell adhesion and cell proliferation induced increase of impedance across the membrane. Secondly, the impedance monitoring was applied to transwell cell migration by using microporous membranes (porous size comparable to that of the cell), showing cell migration induced impedance change at single cell levels. Finally, a multiplexed-impedance sensing system was proposed to monitor adipogenic cell differentiation in culture media with or without drugs. Thus, cell adhesion, migration and differentiation could be studied by impedance monitoring at high resolution and high throughput. Due to the intrinsic advantages of impedance spectroscopy such as label-free, nondestructive and easy miniaturization, we believe that its application in the broad field of cell biology and cell-related diagnosis and drug discovery holds high potential of commercialization.