title: Automated platform for sensor-based monitoring and controlled assays of living cells and tissues.
abstract: Cellular assays have become a fundamental technique in scientific research, pharmaceutical drug screening or toxicity testing. Therefore, the requirements of technical developments for automated assays raised in the same rate. A novel measuring platform was developed, which combines automated assay processing with label-free high-content measuring and real-time monitoring of multiple metabolic and morphologic parameters of living cells or tissues. Core of the system is a test plate with 24 cell culture wells, each equipped with opto-chemical sensor-spots for the determination of cellular oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification, next to electrode-structures for electrical impedance sensing. An automated microscope provides the optical sensor read-out and allows continuous cell imaging. Media and drugs are supplied by a pipetting robot system. Therefore, assay can run over several days without personnel interaction. To demonstrate the performance of the platform in physiologic assays, we continuously recorded the kinetics of metabolic and morphologic parameters of MCF-7 breast cancer cells under the influence of the cytotoxin chloroacetaldehyde. The data point out the time resolved effect kinetics over the complete treatment period. Thereby, the measuring platform overcomes problems of endpoint tests, which cannot monitor the kinetics of different parameters of the same cell population over longer time periods.
authors.affiliation: Heinz Nixdorf-Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Elektronik, Technische Universität München, Theresienstraße 90, Gebäude N3, 80333 Munich, Germany; HP Medizintechnik GmbH, Bruckmannring 19, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany. Electronic address: peter.wolf@tum.de.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brischwein
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kleinhans
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Demmel
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwarzenberger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001940:Breast / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003603:Cytotoxins; C004656:chloroacetaldehyde; D000079:Acetaldehyde
keywords: Automation; Cell-based assay; High-content; Impedance; Label-free; Metabolism