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Fluorescent cell-based sensing approaches for toxicity testing

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Abstract

Fluorimetric cell-based sensing methods have attracted increasing interest in toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals, pathogens, environmental pollutants, and other chemicals. The objective of this review is to summarise the variety of approaches reported up to now and to present recent developments in this area. The different approaches are described in relation to their underlying mechanism and, especially, to the role of the fluorophore involved. The methods discussed include the use of fluorescent or fluorogenic indicators, fluorescence-based testing for membrane integrity, approaches based on fluorescence labelling, inducible fluorescent protein expression, and analysis of cellular autofluorescence. Several of these approaches have been shown to be advantageous in comparison with non-fluorescence methods and have potential in high-throughput screening, for example in drug discovery and safety pharmacology.

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Notes

  1. Schoonen et al. [25] use the term dichlorofluorescein throughout their publication, but we assume they mean dichlorofluorescin, the hydrated form of the fluorophore that can be used as a redox indicator.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from Carl Trygger's Foundation, Sweden.

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  1. Division of Biotechnology/IFM, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Michael Fritzsche & Carl-Fredrik Mandenius

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  1. Michael Fritzsche
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  2. Carl-Fredrik Mandenius
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Correspondence to Carl-Fredrik Mandenius.

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Fritzsche, M., Mandenius, CF. Fluorescent cell-based sensing approaches for toxicity testing. Anal Bioanal Chem 398, 181–191 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-3651-6

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