Electronic Platform for Real-Time Multi-Parametric Analysis of Cellular Behavior Post Exposure to Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) implementation in a variety of biomedical applications from bioimaging, disease targeting to controlled drug and gene delivery, has raised awareness of their potential toxicity. Nanotubes structural aspects which resemble asbestos, as well as their ability to induce cyto and genotoxicity upon interaction with biological systems by generating reactive oxygen species or inducing membrane damage, just to name a few, have led to focused efforts aimed to assess associated exposure risks prior their user implementation.  In this study, we employed a non-invasive and real-time electric cell impedance sensing (ECIS) platform to monitor the cellular behavior of human lung epithelial cells upon exposure to a library of SWCNTs with user-defined physico-chemical properties. Using the natural sensitivity of the cells as primary transducers, we evaluated SWCNT-induced cellular changes in relation to cell attachment, cell-cell interactions and cell viability respectively. In particular, our results showed functional differences in the cellular behavior upon exposure to pristine and acid treated SWCNTs according to nanotube’s length, surface chemistry, purity and agglomeration state. Our methods have the potential to lead to the development of standardized assays for risk assessment of other nanomaterials as well as risk differentiation based on the nanomaterials physico-chemical properties.