Use of ECIS Technology for Real-Time Non-Invasive Identification of Partially and/or Fully Differentiated Cells for Regenerative Medicine

The Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technology provides an excellent miniaturized platform on which to design and execute non-invasive and label-free specialized biological assays to continuously monitor cellular parameters such as viability, adhesion, and proliferation in a high throughput way. It records electrical impedance of cells grown on microelectrodes integrated into the bottom of individual 8-wells or 96-wells arrays. It has been shown that throughout differentiation, the gradual reorganization of the cell layer can be accurately detected using the ECIS modeling of the complex impedance and its components. We propose to use the ECIS technology for real-time, label-free monitoring of stem cell differentiation by recording cell-specific behaviors critical to differentiation, in a high throughput format. We intend to reveal cell-identity maps which can be used to create cell-type specific signatures where each cell type can be associated with specific differentiation-induction response-curves. Overall, we will evaluate impedance signaling associated with changes in cell-cell contacts, modifications in cell-substrate interactions, proliferation, spreading and migration. We assume these early changes to be cell-type specific and the overall goal of this proposal is to demonstrate they can be annotated.