Growth and Drug Interaction Monitoring of NIH 3T3 Cells by Image Analysis and Capacitive Biosensor

Abstract

Capacitive biosensors are manufactured on glass slides using the semiconductor process to monitor cell growth and cell–drug interactions in real time. Capacitance signals are continuously monitored for each 10 min interval during a 48 h period, with the variations of frequency from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The capacitance values showed a gradual increase with the increase in NIH 3T3 cell numbers. After 48 h of growth, 6.67 μg/mL puromycin is injected for the monitoring of the cell–drug interaction. The capacitance values rapidly increased during a period of about 10 h, reflecting the rapid increase in the cell numbers. In this study, we monitored the state of cells and the cell–drug interactions using the developed capacitive biosensor. Additionally, we monitored the state of cell behavior using a JuLiTM Br&FL microscope. The monitoring of cell state by means of a capacitive biosensor is more sensitive than confluence measuring using a JuLiTM Br&FL microscope image. The developed capacitive biosensor could be applied in a wide range of bio-medical areas; for example, non-destructive real-time cell growth and cell–drug interaction monitoring.