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- Extracellular electrophysiological based sensor to monitor cancer cells cooperative migration and cell-cell connectionsPublication . Asgarifar, Sanaz; Mestre, Ana L. G.; Félix, Rute; Inacio, Pedro M. C.; Lurdes S. Cristiano, M.; Medeiros, Maria C. R.; Araújo, Inês; Power, Deborah; Gomes, Henrique L.Herein, we describe an electrophysiological based sensor that reproducibly monitors and quantifies in real-time collective migration and the formation of cell-cell junctions by C6 glioma cells seeded on top of electrodes. The signal amplitude and frequency generated by the migrating cells changed over time and these parameters were used to accurately calculate the migration speed. Electrophysiological measurements could also distinguish individual from collective cell migration. The migration of densely packed cells generated strong signals, while dispersed cells showed weak bioelectrical activity. We propose this electrophysiological technique as a cell-based biosensor to gain insight into the mechanisms of cooperative migration of cancer cells. Possible applications include screening for anti-migratory compounds, which may lead to the development of novel strategies for antineoplastic chemotherapy.
- Extracellular electrophysiological measurements of cooperative signals in astrocytes populationsPublication . Mestre, Ana L. G.; INÁCIO, PEDRO; ELAMINE, Youssef; Asgarifar, Sanaz; Lourenco, Ana S.; Cristiano, Maria L. S.; Aguiar, Paulo; Medeiros, Maria C. R.; Araújo, Inês; Ventura, Joao; Gomes, Henrique L.Astrocytes are neuroglial cells that exhibit functional electrical properties sensitive to neuronal activity and capable of modulating neurotransmission. Thus, electrophysiological recordings of astroglial activity are very attractive to study the dynamics of glial signaling. This contribution reports on the use of ultra-sensitive planar electrodes combined with low noise and low frequency amplifiers that enable the detection of extracellular signals produced by primary cultures of astrocytes isolated from mouse cerebral cortex. Recorded activity is characterized by spontaneous bursts comprised of discrete signals with pronounced changes on the signal rate and amplitude. Weak and sporadic signals become synchronized and evolve with time to higher amplitude signals with a quasi-periodic behavior, revealing a cooperative signaling process. The methodology presented herewith enables the study of ionic fluctuations of population of cells, complementing the single cells observation by calcium imaging as well as by patch-clamp techniques.