Sarah Li, Angie Sun, Yu-Sin (Jennifer) Ou, Huiying Huang, Wei Sun, Veronica Gomez-Godinez, Linda Shi

Abstract: Cigarette smoke exposure induces oxidative stress, disrupts gene regulation, and causes morphological alterations in lung epithelial cells. While conventional methods such as qPCR and Western blotting are often used to study these effects, they are costly, labour-intensive, and unsuitable for rapid screening. In this study, we introduce a cost-effective imaging strategy to characterize early cellular responses of human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEpCs) to cigarette smoke extract (CSE). For the first time, the Keyence VHX-7000 digital microscope was employed to systematically analyse CSE-induced morphological changes, with direct comparison to the established Zeiss Axiovert 200M inverted fluorescence microscope. Quantitative analysis revealed consistent trends across both systems, demonstrating that the Keyence platform effectively captures morphological alterations with high throughput and minimal sample preparation. These findings establish the Keyence VHX-7000 as a viable, scalable alternative for preliminary cellular injury assessments, offering a practical tool for accelerating research into smoking-related lung and cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: Cigarette Smoke Extract (CSE), Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells (HBEpCs), Keyence VHX-7000, Zeiss Axiovert 200M inverted fluorescence microscope, Morphological Analysis, Microscopy Comparison

Date Published: October 30, 2025
DOI: 10.11159/jbeb.2025.006

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