Microelectronic cell sensor assay for detection of cytotoxicity and prediction of acute toxicity

This study reports in-house assessment of a real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) system used as a test platform for both cytotoxicity assay and predicting acute toxicity. For cytotoxicity determination, the RT-CES assay displayed equal sensitivity and coefficients of variation values with good correlation to NRU assay. The IC50 values and the LD50 values for the cytotoxicity reference materials were compared in the context of the proposed prediction model for acute rodent toxicity. The results obtained from RT-CES assay fitted within the acceptance limits of the prediction model and showed that the RT-CES cytotoxicity assay met the qualification guidelines in NIH Publication #01-4500 to accurately predict acute toxicity. In addition to cell viability, the RT-CES assay provided dynamic information that can be used to identify maximum toxicity and reversibility of the toxic effects which are difficult to achieve by the endpoint assays and, therefore, the RT-CES assay is more accurate for assessment of cytotoxicity. The features of the RT-CES assay, such as labeling free, automatic detection, and easy operation, give this assay potential to replace BALB/c 3T3 NRU assay and be used as routine setting for drug monitoring in the toxicological laboratory.