
Membrane activity detection in cultured cells using phase-sensitive plasmonics
Author(s) -
Foozieh Sohrabi,
Yasaman Jahani,
José V. Sánchez-Mut,
Ershad Mohammadi,
Zahra Barzegar,
Xiaokang Li,
Liliane Glauser,
Johannes Gräff,
Seyedeh Mehri Hamidi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.399713
Subject(s) - grating , plasmon , optics , materials science , signal (programming language) , optoelectronics , computer science , physics , programming language
Despite the existence of various neural recording and mapping techniques, there is an open territory for the emergence of novel techniques. The current neural imaging and recording techniques suffer from invasiveness, a time-consuming labeling process, poor spatial/ temporal resolution, and noisy signals. Among others, neuroplasmonics is a label-free and nontoxic recording technique with no issue of photo-bleaching or signal-averaging. We introduced an integrated plasmonic-ellipsometry platform for membrane activity detection with cost-effective and high-quality grating extracted from commercial DVDs. With ellipsometry technique, one can measure both amplitude (intensity) and phase difference of reflected light simultaneously with high signal to noise ratio close to surface plasmon resonances, which leads to the enhancement of sensitivity in plasmonic techniques. We cultured three different types of cells (primary hippocampal neurons, neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells) on the grating surface. By introducing KCl solution as a chemical stimulus, we can differentiate the neural activity of distinct cell types and observe the signaling event in a label-free, optical recording platform. This method has potential applications in recording neural signal activity without labeling and stimulation artifacts.