4.24 – Toxicity Sensing Using a Hepatocyte Pattern Formed on a Photolithographic Plate

This chapter discusses a study analyzing the toxicity sensing using a hepatocyte pattern formed on a photolithographic plate. A novel toxicity sensing method was investigated, based on a formed hepatocyte pattern. This method uses hepatocytes cultured with a toxic sample on a collagen-patterned plate prepared by photolithography. The developed toxicity sensing method is discussed. At first, a collagen-patterned culture plate was settled in a polystyrene culture dish. The culture plate had about 50 μm wide collagen stripes at 50 μm intervals. It was fabricated by means of partial collagen adsorption on a quartz plate surface by photolithography. Next, hepatocytes, human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (Hep G2), minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, and various concentrations of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) as a toxic sample was put into the dish. Without CCl 4 addition, hepatocytes covered the entire culture plate, because the collagen stripe interval was comparable with hepatocyte size. However, when 5 mM of CCl 4 was added, hepatocyte stripe pattern was observed because almost all of the hepatocytes adhered only on the collagen stripe.