Experts from the University of Bath , in the United Kingdom, and the University of Seville have managed to characterize for the first time in real time the normal electrical activity of prostate cancer cells PC-3, obtaining an electrical pattern at low frequency, (i.e. between 0.1 and 10 Hertz).
“We have observed that this electrical activity evolves from an asynchronous and sporadic behavior to a synchronous and quasiperiodic behavior. Once the normal electrical pattern of this type of cells is known, we use an inhibitor of calcium ion channels, specifically gadolinium trichloride, since these channels are directly related to the electrical activity of prostate cancer cells (PC- 3),” explains Miguel Cabello, telecommunications engineer at the University of Seville.
To carry out the cultivation of the PC-3 cells, the experts used silicon chips with gold electrodes. This chip, connected to equipment that reads electrical signals from cultured cells, allowed analyzing the electrical behavior of large populations of cells cultured with gold electrodes. This allowed obtaining their extracellular activity and finding a behavior pattern for real-time monitoring with great precision.
“One possible application of these studies would be to carry out drug release experiments in the cell culture, measuring the variations in the electrical activity of the cells after the use of those drugs,” Cabello says.
First phases of research
Currently, treatments for this type of disease depend on the stage in which the cancer is found. In this way, treatments can be local, through surgery or radiotherapy , for initial stages; while for more advanced stages, in addition to the methods mentioned above, more complex surgeries may be necessary to remove the affected lymph nodes.
“Our line of research with prostate cancer cells is more oriented to its use, not in patients, but in cell cultures of cancer cells, such as PC-3, to study and find a relationship between electrical patterns and proliferation of the cancer cells, and also to find a relation between the variations in the levels of PH of the culture during the experiment, its electrical activity and their proliferation. That is, our studies are oriented to the first phases of research, before being appropriate for use in patients,” says the expert.
The next step will be to perform biological studies of the proliferation of cells based on the drugs used, to see if a relationship can be found between the electrical activity of PC-3 cells and a lower proliferation of these; all this done in real time, thanks to the continuous acquisition of the culture’s electrical activity.
Source: SINC
