Monitor single-cell changes during fibrosis initiation using electrical impedance and resting membrane potential

 
EI Spectroscopy (EIS) is a powerful technique to assess cellular properties, in vitro. Impedance is the equivalent of resistance for alternate current. Differently from the state-of-the-art TEER measurements, EIS analysis are more informative and less invasive: investigation at different frequencies can describe different aspects of the culture. In parallel, intracellular recording to evaluate resting membrane potential (RMP) is desired to explore the properties of non-electrical cells and ion channels during homeostasis and disease. High resolution EIS platforms to study organs on chip includes complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) micro electrode array (MEA) chips, given their high electrode densities and small electrode sizes. In this project, we use a MEA chip with subcellular-sized electrodes enabling the detection of different conditions of cultures of fibrosis-related cells, using EIS and RMP measurements. 
The student will characterize the cell culture on chip and perform EIS and RMP measurements, and further characterize the detectable changes in |Z| and when challenging the culture. Also, data analysis and reporting will be part of the tasks.