3Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and
Application Center, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey
*: Equal Contribution
¥: Corresponding author: Meltem Elitas
Grant numbers: EXC-2082/1 – 390761711 and H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, 786645.
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiform is the most aggressive and invasive brain cancer
consisting of genetically and phenotypically altering glial cells. It
has massive heterogeneity due to its highly complex and dynamic
microenvironment. Here, we used dielectrophoresis to measuree
electrophysiological properties of glioma cells and quantified
population heterogeneity of U87 glioma cell line. We fabricated a gold
microelectrode array within a microfluidic channel and applied 3
Vpp and 100 kHz, 200 kHz, 300 kHz, 400 kHz, 500 kHz, 1
MHz, 2 MHz, 5 MHz, and 10 MHz frequencies to monitor behavior of glioma
cells under the microscope. We analyzed dielectrophoretic behavior of
500 glioma cells using the acquired images. We revealed that U87 glioma
cells has never experienced negative dielectrophoresis and exhibited
crossover frequency around 100 kHz -150 kHz. We detected 3 distinct
glioma subpopulations by quantifying dielectrophoretic movement of the
cells; 50% of the cells experienced positive dielectrophoresis starting
from 500 kHz to 10 MHz, 30% of the cells were spread in the
microchannel by moderate DEP forces, and other cells were experienced
very weak DEP forces. Our results demonstrate the dielectrophoretic
spectra of U87 glioma cell line and associates the dielectrophoretic
responses of single glioma cells to the population heterogeneity.
Keywords: Dielectrophoresis, microfluidics, glioma, crossover
frequency, heterogeneity