Lack of advancement in detection of abnormal liver cells is a major drawback in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that could results in late diagnosis. This study aims to discriminate the malignant cells from the normal counterparts, and apoptotic cells from viable cells using a microfluidic dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based technology. The discrimination of the viable and non-viable HCC cells was conducted upon treatment with plant-based cytotoxic agent konjac glucomannan (KGM). DEP analyses of human normal liver (WRL68) cells showed slight positive-DEP effect while liver cancer (HepG2) cells was highly negative. This broad dielectric difference is due to the tumorigenic alterations in HepG2 cells. Exposure to cytotoxic agents showed a significant shift from negative-DEP to positive-DEP, indicating apoptosis-induced reduction in membrane negativity. The results indicate the feasibility of DEP method in cancer screening.

在检测异常肝细胞方面缺乏进步是肝细胞癌 (HCC) 的一个主要缺点，可能导致诊断较晚。本研究旨在使用基于微流体介电泳 (DEP) 的技术将恶性细胞与正常细胞区分开来，并将凋亡细胞与活细胞区分开来。在用基于植物的细胞毒剂魔芋葡甘聚糖 (KGM) 处理后进行存活和非存活 HCC 细胞的区分。人正常肝 (WRL68) 细胞的 DEP 分析显示轻微的阳性 DEP 效应，而肝癌 (HepG2) 细胞则高度阴性。这种广泛的介电差异是由于 HepG2 细胞中的致瘤性改变。暴露于细胞毒剂显示出从负-DEP 到正-DEP 的显着转变，表明细胞凋亡诱导的膜负性降低。