Real-time multi-parameter monitoring of immobilized single yeast cells via electrical impedance spectroscopy

This paper presents real-time cell-cycle monitoring of immobilized single budding-yeast cells, S. cerevisiae, via electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A microfluidic chip, which enables individual trapping and reliable retention of single cells at multiple sites for long-term culture and subsequent cell release, is used to establish direct correlation of optically monitored cell morphologies with EIS amplitude and phase signals, recorded between 10 kHz and 10 MHz. The results demonstrate that EIS can potentially be utilized to distinguish different yeast cell-cycle states and to sensitively monitor cell growth.