Electrochemical Cell Chip to Detect Environmental Toxicants Based on Cell Cycle Arrest Technique

A cell-based chip was recently developed and shown to be an effective in vitro tool for analyzing effect of environmental toxin on target cells. However, common cell chips are inappropriate for the detection of multiple environmental toxins. Here, we fabricated a neural cell chip to detect different cellular responses induced by BPA (bisphenol-A) and PCB (poly chlorinated biphenyl). This approach was based on an electrochemical method using a cell cycle-arrest technique. Neural cells were synchronized at the synthesis phase by treatment with thymidine, which results in a sharp reduction peak when compared to unsynchronized cells. The fabricated chip containing 50% G1/S and 50% G2/M phase cells was used to determine the effects of environmental toxins on neural cancer cells. At the end, the cell-chips could be used to assess both BPA and PCB toxicity that the cells were completely synchronized at the G1/S and G2/M phase. The proposed neural cell chip can be a useful tool for biosensors to evaluate easily and sensitively multiple effects of environmental toxicants on target cells.