High-Throughput and Dynamic Study of Drug and Cell Interactions Using Contrast Images in Aluminum-Based Nanoslit Arrays.

High-throughput and dynamic measurement for living cell activities can benefit biological research and drug development. A low-cost metallic nanostructure-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging platform, comprising multiple aluminum nanoslit arrays and a color image device, is proposed for label-free study of cell and drug interactions. The multiple nanoslit sensing arrays were fabricated using the compression-injection molding process. These sensing chips showed a detectable depth of 600 nm and refractive index resolution of ∼5 × 10-5 refractive index unit (RIU) by using a self-referenced two-color analysis. Two examples of kinetic studies of living cells under various doses of drugs are presented. The focal adhesion kinases inhibitor (FAKi 14) and cell interactions show exponential changes of cellular adhesion and time constants for different concentrations of antiadhesion drugs. The anticancer drug (doxorubicin (DOX))-treated cells show slow increases of SPR signals in the first 2 h due to the nucleus swelling. The DOX-treated cells further process plasma membrane disruption and become floating cells and debris in the medium, resulting in rapid drops of the SPR signals.