Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Single cell imaging for exploring the relationship between glucose uptake, survival and metastasis in cancer

4^th International Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy

August 10-12, 2015 London, UK

Lawrence W C Chan, Cesar Wong, Fei Meng, Fengfeng Wang and Benjamin Y M Yung

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Stem Cell Res Ther

Abstract:

Fluorescence microscopy is a method for imaging fluorescence tracer uptake in single live cell. The glucose analog 2-(N-(7-
Nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)Amino)-2-Deoxyglucose (2-NBDG) was used as a fluorescence tracer to measure the in
vitro glucose uptake. The aim of this study was to quantitatively estimate the heterogeneous glucose uptake rate (K1) of single
breast cancer cell and to further categorize breast cancer cells based on K1 values. We examined the relationship between glucose
uptake and cell morphology and cell migration. The breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) was incubated with 2-NBDG and
visualized by fluorescence microscope for 12 hours. The dynamic cellular 2-NBDG uptake was captured as images, and was
quantized by measuring mean pixel intensity of each cell. Individual cellular area change, shape change and regional cell density
were also recorded for analysis. Using the proposed pharmacokinetic model, the cellular K1 values, indicating the glucose uptake
rate, were deduced. Based on the K1 values, the breast cancer cells were classified into two major different groups. The individual
cell properties of these two groups were then analyzed. Significant differences were observed for single cell analysis between
shape change, migration distance, cell density and glucose uptake. We also found that in some situations the longer cell migration
distance is, the more rounded cells, and the higher cell density in a particular area, the more glucose uptake. The finding implies
the important role of glucose metabolism in the survival and metastasis of cancer cells.

Biography :

Lawrence W C Chan received his PhD in Artificial Intelligence in 2001 from the University of Hong Kong. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of
Health Technology and Informatics, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interest includes bioinformatics, imaging informatics and clinical decision
support. He received substantial amount of research funding from General Research Fund (PI), Health and Medical Research Fund (PI), Collaborative Research
Fund (Co-PI) and the PolyU Strategic Importance Fund (Team member).