title: Surface plasmon resonance fiber sensor for real-time and label-free monitoring of cellular behavior.
abstract: This paper reports on the application of an optical fiber biosensor for real-time analysis of cellular behavior. Our findings illustrate that a fiber sensor fabricated from a traditional telecommunication fiber can be integrated into conventional cell culture equipment and used for real-time and label-free monitoring of cellular responses to chemical stimuli. The sensing mechanism used for the measurement of cellular responses is based on the excitation of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on the surface of the optical fiber. In this proof of concept study, the sensor was utilized to investigate the influence of a number of different stimuli on cells-we tested the effects of trypsin, serum and sodium azide. These stimuli induced detachment of cells from the sensor surface, uptake of serum and inhibition of cellular metabolism, accordingly. The effects of different stimuli were confirmed with alamar blue assay, phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy. The results indicated that the fiber biosensor can be successfully utilized for real-time and label-free monitoring of cellular response in the first 30 min following the introduction of a stimulus. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the optical fiber biosensors can be easily regenerated for repeated use, proving this platform as a versatile and cost-effective sensing tool.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Yanina
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shevchenko
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Gulden
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Camci-Unal
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Davide F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Cuttica
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mehmet R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dokmeci
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Electronic address: jacques_albert@carleton.ca.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alik@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D055100:Optical Fibers; D044967:Serum / Q000378:metabolism; D019810:Sodium Azide / Q000378:metabolism; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019810:Sodium Azide; D014357:Trypsin
keywords: Cellular analysis; Cellular response; Plasmonic fiber sensor; Real-time and label-free sensing