title: Filming a live cell by scanning electrochemical microscopy: label-free imaging of the dynamic morphology in real time.
abstract: The morphology of a live cell reflects the organization of the cytoskeleton and the healthy status of the cell. We established a label-free platform for monitoring the changing morphology of live cells in real time based on scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The dynamic morphology of a live human bladder cancer cell (T24) was revealed by time-lapse SECM with dissolved oxygen in the medium solution as the redox mediator. Detailed local movements of cell membrane were presented by time-lapse cross section lines extracted from time-lapse SECM. Vivid dynamic morphology is presented by a movie made of time-lapse SECM images. The morphological change of the T24 cell by non-physiological temperature is in consistence with the morphological feature of early apoptosis. To obtain dynamic cellular morphology with other methods is difficult. The non-invasive nature of SECM combined with high resolution realized filming the movements of live cells.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and Department of Chemistry, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China. ytlong@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Michelle Meng-Ni
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi-Tao
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Zhifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding