Capacitance cytometry: measuring biological cells one by one.
Measuring the DNA content of eukaryotic cells is a fundamental task in biology and medicine. We have observed a linear relationship between the DNA content of eukaryotic cells and the change in capacitance that is evoked by the passage of individual cells across a 1-kHz electric field. This relationship is species-independent; consequently, we have developed a microfluidic technique-"capacitance cytometry"-that can be used to quantify the DNA content of single eukaryotic cells and to analyze the cell-cycle kinetics of populations of cells. Comparisons with standard flow cytometry demonstrate the sensitivity of this new technique.
Sohn
L L
LL
Departments of Physics and Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. sohn@princeton.edu
Saleh
O A
OA
Facer
G R
GR
Beavis
A J
AJ
Allan
R S
RS
Notterman
D A
DA
D000818:Animals; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D055672:Static Electricity
D004247:DNA