Capacitance-Voltage Measurement of Transporting Function at Cell Membrane

Abstract

In this paper, we report the detection of transporting function at cell membrane using capacitance-voltage (CV) measurement. The detection principle of our devices is based on the field-effect of electrostatic interaction between charged species at cell membrane in solution and surface electrons in silicon crystal through the gate insulator of Si₃N₄/SiO₂ thin double-layer. We designed an oocyte-based field-effect capacitor, on which a Xenopus laevis oocyte was fixed. The transporter of human organic anion transporting peptide C (hOATP-C) was expressed at oocyte membrane by induction of cRNA. The electrical phenomena such as ion or molecular charge flux at the interface between cell membrane and gate surface could be detected as the change of flat band voltage in CV characteristics. The flat band voltage shift decreased with incubation time after introduction of substrate into the oocyte-based field-effect capacitor. The electrical signal is due to the change of charge flux from the oocyte at the gate surface inspired by transporter-substrate binding. The platform based on the oocyte-based field-effect capacitor is suitable for a simple and non-invasive detection system in order to analyze function of transporters related to drug efficacy.