We have been developing an instrument that electrically detects cell motion in tissue culture and intend to make a commercial device suitable for the medical/biological research market. The immediate challenge is to relate motion of cells measured by this method to other recognized cellular functions. In this study, motion of cancer cell lines measured electrically will be correlated with motility measured by conventional means and with the known metastatic abilities of the cells. In this new instrumental method, cells are cultured on small gold electrodes carrying weak AC currents. The motions of the cells are mirrored in the measured electrode impedance fluctuations and can be detected in both sparse and confluent cell layers. Experiments show detection of movements well beyond the resolution of an optical microscope. Specifically, extensive impedance measurements will be carried out on six sublines of Dunning rat prostatic adenocarcinoma cells. These data will be statistically processed by a variety of algorithms and compared with video microscopy data from collaborators at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. They have found strong correlations of some aspects of cell motility with metastasis for these cells.
