Potential colorimetric detection of cancer cells using Phenol Red.

The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between the color changes of phenol red and the growth of cancer cells, i.e., HeLa and DU145 cells, over a specific period of time. Normal mouse skin fibroblasts (L929 cells) were used as a reference. In this research, the color changes of phenol red due to the acidification of the cell culture medium from the growth of the cells over a period of nine hours showed potential colorimetric characteristics of cancer cells. The color changes of phenol red were observed using visible absorbance spectroscopy. The transformation of the absorbance spectra into coefficients of determination against the examined range of wavelengths created a distinctive spectral signature that signifies phenol red discoloration in cancer and normal cell culture lines.

VIS-NIR spectral signature and quantitative analysis of HeLa and DU145 cell line.

Cancer is increasing in incidence and the leading cause of death worldwide. Controlling and reducing cancer requires early detection and technique to accurately detect and quantify predictive biomarkers. Optical spectroscopy has shown promising non-destructive ability to display distinctive spectral characteristics between cancerous and normal tissues from different part of human organ. Nonetheless, not many information is available on spectroscopic properties of cancer cell lines. In this research, the visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) absorbance spectroscopy measurement of cultured cervical cancer (HeLa) and prostate cancer cells (DU145) lines has been performed to develop spectral signature of cancer cells and to generate algorithm to quantify cancer cells. Spectroscopic measurement on mouse skin fibroblast (L929) was also taken for comparative purposes. In visible region, the raw cells' spectra do not produce any noticeable peak absorbance that provides information on color because the medium used for cells is colorless and transparent. NIR wavelength between 950 and 975 nm exhibit significant peak due to water absorbance by the medium. Development of spectral signature for the cells through the application of regression technique significantly enhances the diverse characteristics between L929, HeLa and DU145. The application of multiple linear regression allows high measurement accuracy of the cells with coefficient of determination above 0.94.