Tracing the pH dependent activation of autophagy in cancer cells by silicon nanowire-based impedance biosensor

•PH dependent behavior of normal and cancer cells by impedimetric biosensor based on Silicon Nanowires (SiNWs) was introduced.•Autophagy as a biologically activated process in invasive cancer cells, protect them from apoptosis in lower pH.•The measured electrical resistance of MCF10, MCF7 and MDA-MB468 cell lines, by SiNW sensor, in different pH were matched by the biological analyses of their vital functions.•Just invasive cancer cells exhibited increased electrical resistance in pH 6.5. Monitoring the pH dependent behavior of normal and cancer cells by impedimetric biosensor based on Silicon Nanowires (SiNWs) was introduced to diagnose the invasive cancer cells. Autophagy as a biologically activated process in invasive cancer cells during acidosis, protect them from apoptosis in lower pH which presented in our work. As the autophagy is the only activated pathways which can maintain cellular proliferation in acidic media, responses of SiNW-ECIS in acidified cells could be correlated to the probability of autophagy activation in normal or cancer cells. In contrast, cell survival pathway wasn’t activated in low-grade cancer cells which resulted in their acidosis. The measured electrical resistance of MCF10, MCF7, and MDA-MB468 cell lines, by SiNW sensor, in normal and acidic media were matched by the biological analyses of their vital functions. Invasive cancer cells exhibited increased electrical resistance in pH 6.5 meanwhile the two other types of the breast cells exhibited sharp (MCF10) and moderate (MCF7) decrease in their resistance. This procedure would be a new trend in microenvironment based cancer investigation.