Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening, non-carcinogenic inflammatory pulmonary conditions characterized by the collection of fluids in the air sacs of the lungs. When fluid-filled airways are ventilated, the stresses of repetitive recruitment-decruitment (Rec-Der) causes cellular damage to the epithelial surface, leading to ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). The objective of this study was to establish a foundation for use of electric cell-substance impedance sensing (ECIS) in real-time analysis of cell membrane morphology and RecDer-induced damage. NCI H441 papillary adenocarcinoma human pulmonary epithelial cells are cultured onto custom 1F8x10E PC Flow Array. 10mM cysteine and 1% gelatin surface treatments demonstrated strong results for improved cell-substrate adhesion strength. RecDer insults were introduced at a velocity of 0.5mm/s through FBS-enhanced RPMI164 growth media. Experimental trials for 0 (n=1), 1 (n=1), 5 (n=1), 10 (n=1), 20 (n=7), and 50 (n=1) RecDer insults were analyzed using Annexin-V/PI flow cytometry; results showed monolayer health of 97.76%, 93.152%, 91.801%, 72.495%, 66.88% and 60.812% respectively. Trials for 20 (n=1), 30 (n=1), and 40 (n=1) RecDer insults were analyzed using ECIS; Frequency-dependent impedance modeling of the acquired data suggested increased damage to both cell-cell junction health and cell membrane integrity with increased RecDer insults. Results established a strong foundation for ECIS analysis of RecDer-induced monolayer damage.
