(85f) Cancer Cell Hyperactivity and Membrane Dipolarity Monitoring Via Raman Mapping of Interfaced Graphene: Towards Non-Invasive Cancer Diagnostics

Ultra-sensitive detection, mapping and monitoring of the activity of cancer cells is critical for treatment evaluation and patient care. Here, we demonstrate that a cancer cell’s glycolysis-induced hyperactivity and enhanced electronegative membrane (from sialic acid) can sensitively modify the second-order overtone of in-plane phonon vibration energies (2D) of interfaced graphene via a hole-doping mechanism. By leveraging ultrathin graphene’s high quantum capacitance and responsive phononics, we sensitively differentiated the activity of interfaced Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) cells, a malignant brain tumor, from that of human astrocytes at a single-cell resolution. GBM cell’s high surface electronegativity (potential ~310 mV) and hyperacidic-release induces hole-doping in graphene with a 3-fold higher 2D vibration energy shift of approximately 6±0.5 cm^-1 than astrocytes. From molecular dipole induced quantum coupling, we estimate that the sialic acid density on the cell membrane increases from one molecule per ~17 nm² to one molecule per ~7 nm². Further, graphene phononic response also identified enhanced acidity of cancer cell’s growth medium. Graphene’s phonon-sensitive platform to determine interfaced cell’s activity/chemistry will potentially open avenues for studying activity of other cancer cell types, including metastatic tumors and characterizing different grades of their malignancy.