Macrophages are immune cells that play important roles in the human body’s initial immune responses against pathogens and tumor cells. We investigated the use of electrical impedance monitoring to assess the differentiation of THP-1 monocyte into macrophages, which is necessary for immunotherapy research conducted. The change in resistance at 1 kHz and capacitance at 100 kHz measured were proportionally increased according to not only the increase in the density of resting macrophages differentiated by Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate treatment but also the initial number of THP-1 cells seeded on the electrode. Additionally, real-time impedance data from THP-1 cells after 48 h of cultivation demonstrated greater recognition of the resting macrophage phenotypes (adhesion cells) covered microelectrode surface with a significant increase of impedance signal in comparison with monocytes phenotypes (suspended cells). Furthermore, during the polarization phase of macrophages, the alternatively activated macrophage phenotype was larger and flatter than that of classically activated macrophage and resting macrophage phenotypes, indicating a correlation with a higher resistance and lower capacitance impedances at 1 kHz and 100 kHz of alternatively activated macrophages (4750 Ω and – 3.5 nF) than that of classically activated macrophages (2000 Ω and – 1.5 nF) and resting macrophages (3500 Ω and – 2.0 nF), respectively. The study’s findings demonstrated that the impedance measurement system is high sensitivity and confidence in monitoring macrophages differentiation and polarization. The electrical impedance, which has significance for each macrophage phenotype, is compatible with macrophages characteristic features observed using flow cytometry and a microscope.

巨噬细胞是免疫细胞，在人体针对病原体和肿瘤细胞的初始免疫反应中发挥重要作用。我们研究了使用电阻抗监测来评估 THP-1 单核细胞向巨噬细胞的分化，这对于进行免疫治疗研究是必要的。测得的 1 kHz 电阻变化和 100 kHz 电容变化不仅与经 Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate 处理分化的静息巨噬细胞密度的增加成比例增加，还与 THP-1 细胞的初始数量成比例增加种在电极上。此外，培养 48 小时后 THP-1 细胞的实时阻抗数据表明，与单核细胞表型（悬浮细胞）相比，对覆盖微电极表面的静息巨噬细胞表型（粘附细胞）有更好的识别，阻抗信号显着增加。此外，在巨噬细胞的极化阶段，交替激活的巨噬细胞表型比经典激活的巨噬细胞和静息巨噬细胞表型更大、更平坦，表明交替激活的巨噬细胞在 1 kHz 和 100 kHz 时具有较高的电阻和较低的电容阻抗。 （4750 Ω 和 – 3.5 nF）分别高于经典激活巨噬细胞（2000 Ω 和 – 1.5 nF）和静息巨噬细胞（3500 Ω 和 – 2.0 nF）。研究结果表明，阻抗测量系统在监测巨噬细胞分化和极化方面具有高灵敏度和可信度。电阻抗对每种巨噬细胞表型都有重要意义，与使用流式细胞术和显微镜观察到的巨噬细胞特征相一致。