Wavelength-scanning surface plasmon resonance microscopy: A novel tool for real time sensing of cell-substrate interactions

• Published in: Biosensors & bioelectronics 2019-12, Vol.145, p.111717-111717, Article 111717
• Main Authors: Zeng, Youjun, Zhou, Jie, Wang, Xueliang, Cai, Zhiwen, Shao, Yonghong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biosensing Techniques; Cell Communication; Cell-substrate interaction; Electroporation; Liquid Crystals - chemistry; Microscopy; Surface Plasmon Resonance - methods; Surface plasmon resonance microscope (SPRM); Wavelength scanning
• ISSN: 0956-5663; 1873-4235
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111717

This paper, for the first time, presents a wavelength-scanning surface plasmon resonance microscope (WS-SPRM) as a label-free biosensor capable of measuring cell-substrate interaction. The approach utilized a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) as a fast and flexible wavelength-scanning device that can implement a wavelength-scanning and SPR imaging cycle within 1 s. The system was verified by monitoring the dynamics of cellular processes including cell detachment and electroporation of individual cells. It was found that the WS-SPRM presented better performance than the intensity-based SPRM (I-SPRM) in the imaging of cell adhesion. The results also indicated that the WS-SPRM exhibited a larger dynamic range in monitoring cell electroporation than that of I-SPRM. In summary, the developed WS-SPRM in this study provides a promising technique for real-time monitoring of cell-substrate interaction. •For the first time, a wavelength-scanning SPRM is developed as a label-free biosensor to measure cell-substrate interaction.•The WS-SPRM has been exploited to monitor the dynamics of cellular processes including detachment and electroporation.•The WS-SPRM exhibits larger dynamic range compared to the intensity SPRM, which is beneficial for the cell adhesion imaging.