Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation

Amy Sutton, Tanya Shirman (), Jaakko V. I. Timonen, Grant T England, Philseok Kim, Mathias Kolle, Thomas Ferrante, Lauren D Zarzar, Elizabeth Strong and Joanna Aizenberg ()
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Amy Sutton: Harvard University
Tanya Shirman: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Jaakko V. I. Timonen: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Grant T England: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Philseok Kim: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Mathias Kolle: Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thomas Ferrante: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Lauren D Zarzar: Harvard University
Elizabeth Strong: Harvard College, Harvard University
Joanna Aizenberg: Harvard University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Mechanical forces in the cell’s natural environment have a crucial impact on growth, differentiation and behaviour. Few areas of biology can be understood without taking into account how both individual cells and cell networks sense and transduce physical stresses. However, the field is currently held back by the limitations of the available methods to apply physiologically relevant stress profiles on cells, particularly with sub-cellular resolution, in controlled in vitro experiments. Here we report a new type of active cell culture material that allows highly localized, directional and reversible deformation of the cell growth substrate, with control at scales ranging from the entire surface to the subcellular, and response times on the order of seconds. These capabilities are not matched by any other method, and this versatile material has the potential to bridge the performance gap between the existing single cell micro-manipulation and 2D cell sheet mechanical stimulation techniques.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14700

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