Dielectrophoretic separation of mouse melanoma clones.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is employed to differentiate clones of mouse melanoma B16F10 cells. Five clones were tested on microelectrodes. At a specific excitation frequency, clone 1 showed a different DEP response than the other four. Growth rate, melanin content, recovery from cryopreservation, and in vitro invasive studies were performed. Clone 1 is shown to have significantly different melanin content and recovery rate from cryopreservation. This paper reports the ability of DEP to differentiate between two malignant cells of the same origin. Different DEP responses of the two clones could be linked to their melanin content.