Metasurface plasmon resonance platform for high-throughput, label-free, real-time, long-term monitoring of in vitro cancer therapy assessment

Improving real-time and long-term assessment of cellular behaviors in vitro is crucial for basic scientific research and drug development. This study establishes a high-throughput, real-time, label-free, long-term cell analysis and drug screening platform based on metasurface plasmon resonance (MetaSPR) spectroscopy. This platform was applied to monitor cell proliferation, drug–target cell interactions, cell adhesion, and natural killer cell–mediated cell lysis. The accuracy of the platform was validated by a linear relationship between the MetaSPR results and cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) assay/imaging signals, providing a solid foundation for further experiments. This platform consistently monitors cell proliferation, drug–target cell interactions, and cell adhesion/spreading, yielding results comparable to those obtained using traditional CCK-8 and flow cytometry methods. Additionally, the cytolytic activity of natural killer cells was evaluated by co-culturing them with target cells at varying effector:target ratios and monitoring their interactions. The results demonstrate that the spectroscopic MetaSPR detection system can quantitatively assess cytolytic activity mediated by immune cells. The rapid response, cost-effectiveness, real-time monitoring capability, and non-invasive characteristics of this platform can enhance the understanding of complex cellular processes and create new possibilities for drug screening and clinical diagnostics.