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Schimetz J, Shah P, Keese C, Dehnert C, Detweiler M, Michael S, Toniatti-Yanulavich C, Xu X, Padilha EC. Automated measurement of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) in 96-well transwells using ECIS TEER96: Single and multiple time point assessments. SLAS Technol 2024; 29:100116. [PMID: 37923083 DOI: 10.1016/j.slast.2023.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is a widely used technique for quantifying the permeability of epithelial and endothelial cell layers. However, traditional methods of measuring TEER are limited to single timepoint measurements and can subject cells to an altered environment during the measurement. Here, we assessed the validity of TEER measurements by the ECIS TEER96 device, which is designed to take continuous TEER measurements of a cell culture system in a standard laboratory incubator. We found that the instrument accurately measures TEER across TEER values ranging from 10 to 2050 Ω*cm2 and is more accurate than the manual epithelial voltohmmeter electrode at high TEER values. Furthermore, the high-resolution measurements provided by the device allowed for a unique insight into the mechanisms and kinetics of cells in vitro. To demonstrate the continuous measurement capability of the device, we tracked the formation of an MDCKI cell monolayer until TEER plateaued. Furthermore, we treated Caco-2 monolayers with different concentrations of DMSO and the antimicrobial and surfactant compound benzethonium chloride to measure disruptions to barrier integrity. Treatment of both compounds resulted in concentration-dependent loss of barrier integrity. Our results suggest that the ECIS TEER96 device is a reliable and convenient option for measuring TEER in cell cultures and can provide valuable insights into the behavior of cells in vitro. This technology will be especially useful for increasing throughput of drug permeability assays, inflammation studies, and gaining better understanding of disease states in a cell culture system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Schimetz
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850
| | - Pranav Shah
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850
| | | | | | | | - Sam Michael
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850
| | | | - Xin Xu
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850
| | - Elias C Padilha
- Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Dr, Rockville, MD 20850.
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Chiolerio A, Dehshibi MM, Manfredi D, Adamatzky A. Living wearables: Bacterial reactive glove. Biosystems 2022; 218:104691. [PMID: 35595195 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
A reactive bacterial glove is a cotton glove colonised by Acetobacter aceti, an example of biofabrication of a living electronic sensing device. The bacterial colony, supported by a cellulose-based hydrogel, forms a several millimetres-thick living coating on the surface of the glove. This paper proposes a novel method for analysing the complex electrical activity of trains of spikes generated by a living colony. The proposed method, which primarily focuses on dynamic entropy analysis, shows that the bacterial glove responds to mechanical triaxial stimuli by producing travelling patterns of electrical activity. Kolmogorov complexity further supports our investigation into the evolution of dynamic patterns of such waves in the hydrogel and shows how stimuli initiate electrical activity waves across the glove. These waves are diffractive and ultimately are suppressed by depression. Our experiments demonstrate that living substrates could be used to enable reactive sensing wearable by means of living colonies of bacteria, once the paradigm of excitation wave propagation and reflection is implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Chiolerio
- Center for Converging Technologies, Bioinspired Soft Robotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 10163 Genova, Italy; Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West England, Bristol, UK.
| | - Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi
- Department of Computer Science, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West England, Bristol, UK
| | - Diego Manfredi
- Applied Science and Technology Department, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Andrew Adamatzky
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West England, Bristol, UK
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Adamatzky A. Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211926. [PMID: 35425630 PMCID: PMC8984380 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Fungi exhibit oscillations of extracellular electrical potential recorded via differential electrodes inserted into a substrate colonized by mycelium or directly into sporocarps. We analysed electrical activity of ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis), Enoki fungi (Flammulina velutipes), split gill fungi (Schizophyllum commune) and caterpillar fungi (Cordyceps militaris). The spiking characteristics are species specific: a spike duration varies from 1 to 21 h and an amplitude from 0.03 to 2.1 mV. We found that spikes are often clustered into trains. Assuming that spikes of electrical activity are used by fungi to communicate and process information in mycelium networks, we group spikes into words and provide a linguistic and information complexity analysis of the fungal spiking activity. We demonstrate that distributions of fungal word lengths match that of human languages. We also construct algorithmic and Liz-Zempel complexity hierarchies of fungal sentences and show that species S. commune generate the most complex sentences.
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Dehshibi MM, Chiolerio A, Nikolaidou A, Mayne R, Gandia A, Ashtari-Majlan M, Adamatzky A. Stimulating Fungi Pleurotus ostreatus with Hydrocortisone. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2021; 7:3718-3726. [PMID: 34309374 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Fungi cells can sense extracellular signals via reception, transduction, and response mechanisms, allowing them to communicate with their host and adapt to their environment. They feature effective regulatory protein expressions that enhance and regulate their response and adaptation to various triggers such as stress, hormones, physical stimuli such as light, and host factors. In our recent studies, we have shown that Pleurotus oyster fungi generate electrical potential impulses in the form of spike events in response to their exposure to environmental, mechanical, and chemical triggers, suggesting that the nature of stimuli may be deduced from the fungal electrical responses. In this study, we explored the communication protocols of fungi as reporters of human chemical secretions such as hormones, addressing whether fungi can sense human signals. We exposed Pleurotus oyster fungi to hydrocortisone, which was directly applied to the surface of a fungal-colonized hemp shavings substrate, and recorded the electrical activity of the fungi. Hydrocortisone is a medicinal hormone replacement that is similar to the natural stress hormone cortisol. Changes in cortisol levels released by the body indicate the presence of disease and can have a detrimental effect on physiological process regulation. The response of fungi to hydrocortisone was also explored further using X-rays to reveal changes in the fungi tissue, where receiving hydrocortisone by the substrate can inhibit the flow of calcium and, as a result, reduce its physiological changes. This research could open the way for future studies on adaptive fungal wearables capable of detecting human physiological states and biosensors built of living fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alessandro Chiolerio
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, UWE, Bristol, U.K.,Center for Sustainable Future Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Torino, Italy
| | - Anna Nikolaidou
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, UWE, Bristol, U.K.,Department of Architecture, UWE, Bristol, U.K
| | - Richard Mayne
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, UWE, Bristol, U.K
| | - Antoni Gandia
- Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology, CSIC-UPV, Valencia, Spain.,Mogu S.r.l., Inarzo, Italy
| | - Mona Ashtari-Majlan
- Department of Computer Science, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
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Dehshibi MM, Adamatzky A. Electrical activity of fungi: Spikes detection and complexity analysis. Biosystems 2021; 203:104373. [PMID: 33577948 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Oyster fungi Pleurotus djamor generate actin potential like spikes of electrical potential. The trains of spikes might manifest propagation of growing mycelium in a substrate, transportation of nutrients and metabolites and communication processes in the mycelium network. The spiking activity of the mycelium networks is highly variable compared to neural activity and therefore can not be analysed by standard tools from neuroscience. We propose original techniques for detecting and classifying the spiking activity of fungi. Using these techniques, we analyse the information-theoretic complexity of the fungal electrical activity. The results can pave ways for future research on sensorial fusion and decision making of fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi
- Department of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain; Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West England, Bristol, UK.
| | - Andrew Adamatzky
- Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West England, Bristol, UK.
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