Open AccessLabel-free study on the effect of a bioactive constituent on glioma cells in vitro using terahertz ATR spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Yunsheng Liao,
Mingkun Zhang,
Mingjie Tang,
Ligang Chen,
Xueqin Li,
Zhongdong Liu,
Huabin Wang
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.452952
Subject(s) - glioma , spectroscopy , terahertz spectroscopy and technology , in vitro , terahertz radiation , viability assay , fluorescence , fluorescence microscope , biophysics , attenuated total reflection , cell culture , cell , materials science , chemistry , cancer research , biology , biochemistry , optoelectronics , optics , physics , genetics , quantum mechanics
In this work, we report that the effect of bioactive constituent on living glioma cells can be evaluated using terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection (THz TD-ATR) spectroscopy in a label-free, non-invasive, and fast manner. The measured THz absorption coefficient of human glioma cells (U87) in cell culture media increases with ginsenoside Rg3 (G-Rg3) concentration in the range from 0 to 50 µM, which can be interpreted as that G-Rg3 deteriorated the cellular state. This is supported either by the cell growth inhibition rate measured using a conventional cell viability test kit or by the cellular morphological changes observed with fluorescence microscopy. These results verify the effectiveness of using the THz TD-ATR spectroscopy to detect the action of G-Rg3 on glioma cells in vitro. The demonstrated technique thus opens a new route to assessing the efficacy of bioactive constituents on cells or helping screen cell-targeted drugs.