Studying the electrotactic behavior of saos-2 cells in non-homogenous electric field strength

Electrotaxis is a biological phenomenon observed in several types of cells in which they respond to electric field strength and migrate towards one of the electrodes. As of now such behavior of cells has been only studied in homogenous electric fields where the electric field strength is constant. In this study the electrotaxis behavior of Saos-2 cells are studied in electric fields, where the electric field strength shows changeable gradients. A microfluidic device was designed with four electrodes to generate such non-homogenous electric fields. Experiments show that the cells migrated in the direction of the electric field lines when the electrical field strength exceeds a certain value. However, cells are not able to distinguish small variations in electric field strengths of less than 0.1 V/ mm. This allows the control of cell migration direction using such electric field gradients.