title: More than apples and oranges--detecting cancer with a fruit fly's antenna.
abstract: Cancer cells and non-cancer cells differ in their metabolism and they emit distinct volatile compound profiles, allowing to recognise cancer cells by their scent. Insect odorant receptors are excellent chemosensors with high sensitivity and a broad receptive range unmatched by current gas sensors. We thus investigated the potential of utilising the fruit fly's olfactory system to detect cancer cells. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we recorded an array of olfactory receptor neurons on the fruit fly's antenna. We performed multidimensional analysis of antenna responses, finding that cell volatiles from different cell types lead to characteristic response vectors. The distances between these response vectors are conserved across flies and can be used to discriminate healthy mammary epithelial cells from different types of breast cancer cells. This may expand the repertoire of clinical diagnostics, and it is the first step towards electronic noses equipped with biological sensors, integrating artificial and biological olfaction.
authors.affiliation: 1] Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany [2].
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strauch
authors.affiliation: 1] Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany [2].
authors.forename: Alja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lüdke
authors.affiliation: 1] Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany [2].
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Münch
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laudes
authors.affiliation: 1] Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany [2] Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: C Giovanni
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Galizia
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Rome La Sapienza, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lavra
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paolesse
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulivieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Alexandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catini
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosamaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Capuano
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Natale
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057506:Arthropod Antennae / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009812:Odorants; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds