College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
Hunan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Cell Mechanics and Function Analysis, Changsha 410128, China.
Biosensors (Basel). 2023 Mar 7;13(3):356. doi: 10.3390/bios13030356.
In this study, a double resonator piezoelectric cytometry (DRPC) technology based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was first employed to identify HeLa cell pyroptosis and apoptosis by monitoring cells' mechanical properties in a real-time and non-invasive manner. AT and BT cut quartz crystals with the same frequency and surface conditions were used concurrently to quantify the cells-exerted surface stress (Δ). It is the first time that cells-exerted surface stress (Δ) and cell viscoelasticity have been monitored simultaneously during pyroptosis and apoptosis. The results showed that HeLa pyroptotic cells exerted a tensile stress on quartz crystal along with an increase in the elastic modulus ('), viscous modulus (″), and a decrease of the loss tangent (″/'), whereas apoptotic cells exerted increasing compressive stress on quartz crystal along with a decrease in ', ″ and an increase in ″/'. Furthermore, engineered GSDMD-DEVD- HeLa cells were used to investigate drug-induced disturbance and testify the mechanical responses during the processes of pyroptosis and non-pyroptosis. These findings demonstrated that the DRPC technology can serve as a precise cytomechanical sensor capable of identifying pyroptosis and apoptosis, providing a novel method in cell death detection and paving the road for pyroptosis and apoptosis related drug evaluation and screening.
在这项研究中，首次采用基于石英晶体微天平（QCM）的双共振压电细胞术（DRPC）技术，通过实时、非侵入式监测细胞的力学特性，来识别 HeLa 细胞焦亡和凋亡。同时使用 AT 和 BT 切割具有相同频率和表面条件的石英晶体来定量测量细胞施加的表面应力（Δ）。这是首次在焦亡和凋亡过程中同时监测细胞施加的表面应力（Δ）和细胞粘弹性。结果表明，HeLa 细胞焦亡时沿石英晶体施加张应力，同时弹性模量（'）、粘性模量（"）增加，损耗角正切（"/'）降低，而凋亡细胞沿石英晶体施加逐渐增加的压应力，同时 '、" 和 "/' 降低。此外，构建了 GSDMD-DEVD-HeLa 细胞，用于研究药物诱导的干扰并验证焦亡和非焦亡过程中的力学响应。这些发现表明，DRPC 技术可以作为一种精确的细胞力学传感器，用于识别焦亡和凋亡，为细胞死亡检测提供了一种新方法，并为焦亡和凋亡相关药物的评价和筛选铺平了道路。
