Quantitative measurement of permeabilization of living cells by terahertz attenuated total reflection

Marianne Grognot (1) , Guilhem Gallot (1)

1 LOB - Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences

Using Attenuated Total Reflection imaging technique in the terahertz domain, we demonstrate non-invasive, non-staining real time measurements of cytoplasm leakage during permeabilization of epithelial cells by saponin. The terahertz signal is mostly sensitive to the intracellular protein concentration in the cells, in a very good agreement with standard bicinchoninic acid protein measurements. It opens the way to in situ real time dynamics of protein content and permeabilization in live cells.

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]; Subcellular Processes [q-bio.SC]

Marianne Grognot, Guilhem Gallot. Quantitative measurement of permeabilization of living cells by terahertz attenuated total reflection. Applied Physics Letters, 2015, 107 (10), pp.103702. ⟨10.1063/1.4930168⟩. ⟨hal-01222843⟩